Nuked Baidu and pony.ai have been given permission to operate their autonomous vehicles in Beijing. Both companies now no longer need a staff member in the driver’s seat. But they’ll still need a supervisor present somewhere in the vehicle.
Baidu and pony.ai are limited to a 60 square km (23.1 square mile) area in yizhuang, Beijing, the home of about 300,000 residents. Baidu can deploy just 10 autonomous vehicles in the area, but it’s unclear how soon that will happen.
Chinese authorities started allowing Baidu and pony.ai to charge for their robotaxi services in November. The city initially required both services to have a safety driver behind the wheel.
Pony.ai is the first autonomous car company to win a taxi license in China. It received permission to operate 100 vehicles in nansha, Guangzhou. Safety drivers will be on board for a short period of time.
