Pony.ai

Pony.ai is a self-driving vehicle technology company founded by former developers at Chinese tech giant Baidu. The company tests its autonomous vehicles in the US and China, primarily focusing on autonomous ride-hailing. It also develops safety and driving assist technologies for passenger vehicles.Its sixth-generation system was unveiled in January 2022 and features the “Nvidia Drive” computing platform and Level 4 autonomy (i.e., fully autonomous vehicles limited to specific locations and/or conditions). The company offers three advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) solutions dubbed “PonyClassic,” “PonyPro,” and “PonyUltra” for private passenger cars. The solutions offer functions such as valet parking and autonomous driving on expressways and city roads.

Pony.ai claims to be the first to launch robotaxi services in December 2018 in Guangzhou, China, where passengers can hail autonomous cars via its “PonyPilot+” app. As of February 2024, the company had permits to commercially deploy fully driverless robotaxi services in Shanghai (July 2024), Shenzhen (January 2024), Beijing (September 2023), and Guangzhou (April 2023). The company received permission to deploy autonomous vehicles without a safety driver in Fremont, Milpitas, and Irvine, California, in May 2021 (which was revoked a year later citing failure to monitor driver records of the safety driver). As of April 2023, the company had carried out over 13 million miles of autonomous driving and over 200,000 paid rides.

In April 2024, the company received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for a US IPO.

Key customers and partnerships

Pony.ai also has several product partnerships with automotive companies, OEMs and other parties including RoboSense (October 2022), SAIC AI Labs (September 2022), Luminar Technologies (May 2021), FAW Group (November 2020) Bosch (August 2020), Hyundai (October 2019), GAC Group (September 2019), Toyota (August 2019; extended to form a JV to build robotaxis in August 2023), Horizon Robotics (January 2023), Abu Dhabi Investment Office (October 2023), and ComfortDelGro (July 2024).

The company also partnered with China-based ride-sharing services provider Cao Cao Mobility to launch robotaxis within the latter’s platform in Beijing (August 2022), and with mobility tech firm AutoNavi to launch robotaxis in AutoNavi's platform in Guangzhou (October 2024). Pony.ai also has a partnership with Pima Community College (PCC) to test autonomous vehicles in Tucson, Arizona (September 2022); a JV with GemVaxLink to offer self-driving mobility tech and services in South Korea (March 2024); and a partnership with Luxembourg Government partner to enhance autonomous mobility in Luxembourg (March 2024).

As of November 2022, the company had also secured a contract from an unnamed automaker to install driving assist technologies in a vehicle model scheduled for mass production in 2024.