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AUTONOMOUS DRIVING | PILOTS AND DEPLOYMENTS
Pony AI Update: Robotaxis and

Robotruck Services

By Egil Juliussen

ony AI is a prominent developer of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in robotaxi services in three of the cities.
China and worldwide. It holds a strong position in both robotaxis and Shanghai currently requires a safety driver,
but approval for driverless service is
robotrucks. Because it is a public company, valuable information is expected there soon.
Pavailable on Pony AI’s strategy, technology, and progress. Pony AI is the leading Chinese company in
AV testing in California. It started trials in the
state in 2018 and was still testing in 2024 but
Founded in November 2016 and headquartered in Guangzhou, China, with declining annual miles. From its peak year of 2021, during which
Pony AI went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in November 2024, it logged more than 305,000 AV miles with safety drivers in California,
offering 20 million shares at $13 per share. The evaluation of Pony AI its miles driven dropped to 51,000+ in 2024. Pony AI logged more than
was $5.25 billion at the IPO price, and the share price was about $10 in 9,000 driverless miles in California in 2021 but lost its permit and has
early May 2025. not yet received a new one. Currently, it has only limited operations in
There are several versions of the IPO filing. This article is based California, with a team of 101 employees and 10 AVs operating in the
on the version published on Nov. 27, 2024. It is 343 pages long and San Francisco Bay Area. The company has no plans to import, sell, or
includes summary forecast data on robotaxis and robotrucks for China distribute its products in the U.S.
and the global market up to 2035. The second source used for this arti- That is not to say that Pony AI has no expansion plans beyond
cle is the company’s 270-page annual report released on April 25, 2025. China: It is looking toward Europe and the Middle East and has started
Table 1 summarizes Pony AI’s robotaxi activity. As of April this robotaxi testing in Luxembourg, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the
year, Pony AI had 270 robotaxis in use, up from 250 in October 2024. United Arab Emirates.
The average rides per day are currently about 15 per AV, or 4,050 for
its robotaxi fleet. AV cumulative miles increased from ROBOTRUCK OVERVIEW
20.8 million miles in October 2024 to 24.4 million miles in April 2025. Pony AI is among the leaders in robotruck development and deploy-
In October 2024, 3.9 million miles—19% of total AV miles—were ment. Like most other Chinese robotruck companies, it uses a
driverless. PonyPilot, Pony AI’s app for requesting robotaxi service, combination of L2+ ADAS and L4 AV testing. L2+ is also called L2++ to
had 220,000 registered users in June 2024, with 70% having used the indicate it is close to L3 technology.
app more than once. Table 2 offers an overview of Pony AI’s developing robotruck busi-
Pony AI is focusing on robotaxi deployment in China’s four largest ness. It is pursuing a hub-to-hub strategy, which is the most common
cities: Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Known as Tier 1 robotruck business approach: Service is offered between two trucking
cities, these are at the cutting edge of AV technology deployment. The hubs that are usually close to highways, on which most of the service
company has received permission to deploy paid and driverless travel takes place. Pony AI is testing L2+ because the technology is

Table 1: Pony AI Robotaxi Overview
Key Information Other Information
Headquarters Guangzhou, China Founded in November 2016
Public on Nasdaq IPO Nov. 27, 2024: 20 million shares sold Valuation of $5.25 billion

AV testing start February 2019, with safety driver In Guangzhou
Robotaxis in use 270 as of April 10, 2025 250 in November 2024
Robotaxi use rate Average: 15+ rides per day For six months ended June 30, 2024
Self-driving miles 24.36 million (39.2 km) as of April 10, 2025 20.82 million (33.5M km) as of October 2024

PonyPilot app users 220,000 registered users as of June 2024 70% used app more than once
Beijing: Paid driverless service From August 2023
Robotaxi service: Guangzhou: Paid driverless service From April 2023
Four Tier 1 cities Shanghai: Paid safety driver service Permit for driverless pending; service soon
Shenzhen: Paid driverless service From March 2025
Safety driver: 2018–2024; 1.156 million miles Highest of all Chinese companies
U.S. testing: CA DMV
Driverless: 2021; 9,000+ miles Lost driverless permit
Other testing areas South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Luxembourg Plans for expansion
(Source: Pony AI data; Compilation: Egil Juliussen, May 2025)

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