Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Self-driving robotaxis are taking off in China

Self-driving robotaxis are taking off in China

The world has been inching toward fully autonomous cars for years. In China, one company just got even closer to making it a reality.

On Thursday, AutoX, an Alibaba (BABA)-backed startup, announced it had rolled out fully driverless robotaxis on public roads in Shenzhen. The company said it had become the first player in China to do so, notching an important industry milestone.

Previously, companies operating autonomous shuttles on public roads in the country were constrained by strict caveats, which required them to have a safety driver inside.

This program is different. In Shenzhen, AutoX has completely removed the backup driver or any remote operators for its local fleet of 25 cars, it said. The government isn't restricting where in the city AutoX operates, though the company said they are focusing on the downtown area.

The company released a video of its minivan — the Fiat Chrysler Pacifica — navigating on its own through the city's downtown area, showing passengers getting in, loading a package into the backseat and letting a dog hop in for a spin.

It also depicts the car navigating around loading trucks, veering past pedestrians, and performing a U-turn.


AutoX demonstrating its driverless robotaxis on the roads in Shenzhen.


AutoX demonstrating its driverless robotaxis on the roads in Shenzhen. Credit: AutoX

"It's a dream," AutoX CEO Jianxiong Xiao said in an interview. "After working so hard for so many years, we've finally reached the point that the technology is mature enough, that we feel confident by ourselves, to really remove the safety driver."

Xiao said the company won over regulators after working to improve both its software and hardware. "We have over 100 vehicles driving every day on the road [in China] to capture data," he said. "The AI software is better [now.]"

"From a technical point of view, the car is ready," Xiao said. "It's very crucial to have this car, otherwise we cannot go driverless."

AutoX was founded in 2016 by Xiao, a former assistant lecturer at Princeton who still likes to be called "Professor X." The Shenzhen-based firm focuses on making the technology that goes into self-driving cars, and partners with major automakers, such as Fiat Chrysler, to develop and put out its robotaxis.

The new initiative is still in trial mode and not currently open to the public. That likely won't change anytime soon, according to Xiao, who said that he hoped to obtain permission to expand the program to regular passengers in the next two or three years.

Race of the robotaxi


While AutoX has claimed an edge in China, it's not the first time fully driverless shuttles have hit public roads. This summer, the company obtained approval to carry out completely autonomous tests on public roads in parts of San Jose, California, clearing another hurdle in one of its most important markets.

In October, Alphabet's Waymo went a step further, saying that it would start opening up its unmanned transportation service to members of the public in Phoenix, Arizona. (It now offers rides to passengers in the area through an app.)

Domestic competition is also heating up. Recently, Chinese companies have started to let more ordinary people experience what it's like to ride in a self-driving car.

This year, the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the need for contactless services, which encouraged the government to move faster with autonomous technology, said Xiao.

In June, Didi, China's biggest ride-hailing firm, began offering free rides in its autonomous vehicles within a designated area of Shanghai.

Recently, Chinese tech giant Baidu (BIDU) also announced that anyone could try its robotaxi service in certain districts of Beijing. Both of those programs require dedicated safety drivers.

AutoX already has more than 100 robotaxis deployed in five Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Wuhan. Over the next year, it aims to double its reach to more than 10 local cities. Whether the company can pull humans from behind the wheel in other markets depends on local regulators, Xiao said.

In Shanghai, its vehicles are available to public users, who can hail them through Alibaba's Autonavi app, a Chinese mapping app.

The startup's latest approval from local authorities in Shenzhen came after six months of trials it had already conducted there.

Some of the company's lessons so far include how to better adapt to traffic conditions in each place, according to Xiao. In Shenzhen, for instance, motorists often have to watch out for delivery workers on bikes and scooters, and drivers are known to drive more aggressively than in the United States, he said.

"The traffic scenarios are much more challenging," he added. "For our AI, we had to do a lot of work to adapt to the local Chinese way of driving."

China, home to the world's biggest auto sector, could someday become the top global market for automated vehicles, according to a report from consulting firm McKinsey. It projects the country could generate as much as $1.1 trillion in revenue from autonomous mobility services by 2040.

The industry, however, still faces a long road ahead. Xiao estimates it could take another five years for unmanned taxis to become the norm across China.

"The bar is incredibly high," he said. "It's extremely challenging, but we're very happy."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×