• The company will now be able to operate 100 self-driving vehicles in the Nansha district of Guangzhou city.
• Pony.ai has also been testing its driverless technology on public highways in California's Milpitas and Fermont.

Toyota Motors Corp.-backed Pony.ai has announced to have secured a robotaxi license in China, allowing some of its self-driving vehicles to begin charging fares. The company will now be able to operate 100 self-driving vehicles in the Nansha district of Guangzhou city.

Last year, Pony.ai was permitted to conduct paid autonomous robotaxi services in Beijing and has been providing rides since then. However, rides are being offered on a trial basis in a much smaller, industrial zone in Beijing.

According to the company's release, these self-driving cars will charge fares over the district's 800 square kilometers. Meanwhile, passengers will be able to summon and pay for rides using the Pony.ai app.

It's worth noting that the company intends to use safety drivers in the cars initially but expects to remove them soon. The news comes at a time when several entrepreneurs are pouring billions of dollars into self-driving technology in the hopes of having a leg up on the transportation future.

Pony.ai has been testing its driverless technology on public highways in California's Milpitas and Fermont, as well as Beijing and Guangzhou in China.

There has been quite a rush of Chinese companies vying for autonomous driving attention. Momenta and SAIC recently gained legal approval for a test of their robotaxi service in Shanghai's Jiading district, echoing Nissan-baked Weride's similar efforts in Guangzhou.

Whereas in Shenzhen, AutoX, an Alibaba-backed firm is also testing robotaxis in a congested city with pedestrian and scooter traffic, although monitored by safety drivers.

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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/robotaxi-startup-pony-ai-gains-taxi-license-in-china-city/articleshow/91049953.cms