Smart and Sustainable Electric Mobility
DeepRoute expects to set up a European operations center in Germany next year and will release an overseas version of its Driver 3.0 ADAS solution.
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WeRide's last funding round was in May, when it was valued at $3.3 billion post-investment in a Series C round.
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GM China team and startup Momenta have worked together to create a self-driving solution for the Chinese market.
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Toyota, Pony.ai plan to invest a total of more than RMB 1 billion to set up a joint venture within the year, which will launch robotaxi cars built on Toyota's pure electric vehicles.
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The Li Auto vehicle was seen driving itself on a highway while the driver sat in the passenger seat watching a video.
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Black Sesame is the world's third largest supplier of automotive SoCs with high computing power by 2022 shipments.
(Image credit: Black Sesame Technologies)
Black Sesame Technologies, a self-driving chip startup, has filed for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is expected to be the first Chinese company to go public in the area.
Black Sesame has not yet announced the number of shares it plans to issue or the amount of capital it will raise, but has provided a detailed description of its business, according to a prospectus released today.
Founded in 2016, Black Sesame is a supplier dedicated to automotive SoCs and solutions, and was one of the first companies in China to lay out its presence in the autonomous driving chip space.
In January 2018, Black Sesame announced the completion of a Series A+ financing round of nearly RMB 100 million, led by NIO Capital.
The company's products include the Huashan series of autonomous driving SoCs and recently launched the Wudang series of cross-domain SoCs.
Black Sesame is the world's third largest supplier by shipments of automotive SoCs high computing power in 2022, its prospectus said, citing data from Frost & Sullivan.
Black Sesame has received intent orders for 15 models from 10 automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and has partnered with more than 30 automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
Black Sesame's revenue in 2020, 2021 and 2022 were RMB 53.02 million ($7.32 million), RMB 60.5 million and RMB 165 million, respectively.
It will invest RMB 255 million, RMB 594 million and RMB 766 million in R&D in these three years, respectively.
In 2020, 2021 and 2022, Black Sesame's annual adjusted net loss were RMB 273 million, RMB 614 million and RMB 700 million, respectively.
Black Sesame expects its net loss to increase significantly in 2023, as it is in the process of expanding its business and operations in the automotive SoC and solutions market and continues to invest in research and development.
The company provided products and solutions to 89 Chinese and overseas customers in 2022, shipping more than 25,000 SoC products and contributing 86 percent of annual revenue.
Based on 2022 shipments, Black Sesame's share of the market for SoCs with high computing power in China and globally were 5.2 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, according to its prospectus.
($1 = RMB 7.2466)
Dongfeng to build smart driving platform based on Black Sesame's chips
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Just 19 months old, Qingtian Truck is nearing a shutdown and employees have been dismissed, according to local media.
(Image from Qingtian Truck website)
A Chinese self-driving truck startup that was previously sued by Pony.ai is reportedly winding down, the latest setback seen in the space.
Just 19 months old, Qingtian Truck is nearing a shutdown, with employees having been displaced and its operating entity facing liquidation, according to a report by local media outlet Jiemian today.
Qingtian Truck's engineers have also been leaving the company, the report said, citing self-driving industry sources.
The company's registration information has not yet changed and its operating status remains intact, although its website has not been updated with company news since January, the report noted.
Qingtian Truck was founded in Beijing in November 2021 to work on self-driving truck technology.
It received an angel funding round of nearly $10 million from 5Y Capital, the only round it has disclosed, just two and a half months after its founding.
In August 2022, Pony.ai, a self-driving startup backed by Toyota Motor and Nio Capital, sued Qingtian Truck and its key executives, Pan Zhenhao and Sun Youhan, alleging that the latter had infringed on Pony.ai's trade secrets.
Pan and Sun are two of the founders of Qingtian Truck and had worked for Pony.ai.
Pony.ai asked the court to order Qingtian Truck to stop infringing on its trade secrets and ask it to pay economic damages and expenses totaling RMB 60 million ($8.3 million).
In April, Qingtian Truck filed a countersuit against Pony.ai, claiming that the latter had abused its intellectual property rights and engaged in unfair competition.
In June, the two announced that they had reached a settlement, each withdrawing its lawsuit against the other.
It's unclear what the main reason is for the current woes facing Qingtian Truck, but investors appear to be increasingly cautious about the prospects for commercialization in the autonomous driving space at a time of slowing economic growth in China.
On May 15, Shanghai Securities News reported that e-commerce giant Alibaba's DAMO Academy is no longer retaining its autonomous driving business and team, which is being fully integrated into its logistics arm Cainiao.
This means that Alibaba's self-driving business is entering a whole new phase of moving from cutting-edge technology exploration in the lab to applications in real-world scenarios, the report noted.
($1 = RMB 7.2135)
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Valeo and Didi Autonomous Driving will set up a joint R&D team to work on safety systems for L4 robotaxis.
(Image credit: Didi)
French auto parts maker Valeo will invest in Didi Global's autonomous driving division to bet on the fast-growing segment in China.
On May 29, Valeo and Didi Autonomous Driving entered into a strategic partnership and investment agreement in which Valeo intends to invest in the latter and will jointly develop safety solutions for L4 robotaxis.
Valeo and Didi revealed the development in their respective press releases but did not mention the amount of the planned investment.
"Today, we are proud to sign this agreement to invest in DiDi Autonomous Driving and join our R&D efforts to develop safety solutions," Geoffrey BOUQUOT, Valeo Executive Vice President Strategy and CTO, said.
Valeo and Didi Autonomous Driving will form a joint R&D team to work on safety systems for L4 robotaxis.
To provide additional safety to users, Valeo and Didi Autonomous Driving will complement the main system of L4 standard technology with another set of hardware and software that will enable robotaxi to navigate autonomously and safely, according to their press releases.
This Automated Safety Pilot will provide redundancy for the primary system in the event of a sudden failure, as well as customized safety features designed for specific operating scenarios.
The customized intelligent safety solution will be able to take over and control the robotaxi to perform actions that ensure the safety of passengers and other road users.
This intelligent safety solution will initially be deployed on Didi Autonomous Driving's L4 robotaxis, according to their press releases.
Didi's autonomous driving team was founded in 2016, and the ride-hailing giant opened its first overseas AI lab in California in March 2017.
In 2019, Didi began ramping up its bet on autonomous driving, upgrading its autonomous driving division to a standalone company on August 5, 2019.
On April 13, Didi unveiled its driverless concept vehicle Didi Neuron at its autonomous driving open day event, eliminating the driver's seat and expanding the passenger space compared to Didi's first custom car, the D1, which was released in 2020.
Didi's autonomous driving team reached nearly 1,000 people, which is a threefold increase from 2020, Didi Autonomous Driving COO Meng Xing said at the time.
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Pony.ai has previously been approved to provide robotaxi service without a driver in the car in Beijing and Guangzhou.
(Image credit: Pony.ai)
Pony.ai, a Chinese startup backed by Toyota Motor and NIO Capital, has brought its fully unmanned robotaxi service to yet another Chinese mega-city as it continues to advance its self-driving ambitions.
On May 29, Pony.ai received a permit in Shenzhen to conduct robotaxi services without a safety officer in the vehicle in the city's core areas, the only one to receive the permit in the city so far, according to a press release today.
Founded in late 2016, Pony.ai has established R&D centers in Silicon Valley, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, and is running robotaxi operations locally.
In late 2019, NIO Capital said it invested in Pony.ai for an undisclosed amount when it announced the completion of a more than $200 million fundraising. In February 2020, Pony.ai announced it had raised $400 million from Toyota.
Pony.ai launched the robotaxi app PonyPilot in December 2018 and received a permit to operate the robotaxi service for a fee in Beijing in November 2021.
On March 17, Pony.ai announced that it received a license in Beijing to operate fully unmanned robotaxi services within a 60-square-kilometer area in the Yizhuang Economic Development Zone.
On April 26, the company said it was granted permission to offer robotaxi service without a safety officer in the vehicle in Guangzhou, when it put 17 robotaxis into operation.
The expansion of the driverless footprint to Shenzhen confirms Pony.ai's ability to quickly roll out self-driving technology in different cities, it said.
Driverless vehicles need to undergo rigorous testing before hitting the road, including remote scenarios, extreme scenarios, safety management, network and data security, risk response, and a comprehensive assessment by experts and government departments, Pony.ai said.
Successfully passing these tests proves Pony.ai's technical prowess, it said.
To date, Pony.ai has more than 1 million kilometers of fully unmanned testing and nearly 200,000 paid travel orders, the company said.
Pony.ai starts offering robotaxi service in Guangzhou without safety officer in vehicles
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Alibaba's DAMO Academy's autonomous driving lab will lay off about 70 percent of its staff, while others will be transferred to the e-commerce giant's logistics arm, according to local media.
(Image credit: DAMO Academy)
Alibaba, one of China's most powerful tech giants, is backing away from autonomous driving research and development, highlighting the challenges facing the field.
Alibaba's DAMO Academy no longer retains its autonomous driving business and team, which was merged into its logistics unit Cainiao, the Shanghai Securities News said in a report today, citing people from the e-commerce giant.
This means that Alibaba's autonomous driving business is entering a whole new phase of moving from cutting-edge tech exploration in the lab to applications in real-world scenarios, the report noted.
The Shanghai Securities News report did not provide more information, but according to a subsequent report by Jiemian, another local media outlet, not all of DAMO Academy's autonomous driving business was merged into Cainiao, but rather a significant layoff will be made.
DAMO Academy's autonomous driving lab previously had more than 300 people, with 80-90 receiving the option to move to work at Cainiao, while about 200 others, or about 70 percent, will be laid off, according to Jiemian.
One of the key reasons Cainiao was unable to take on all members of the team was the limited investment it was willing to make, the report said, citing an Alibaba insider.
The team that will be incorporated into Cainiao will be primarily responsible for keeping the autonomous driving robot Xiaomanlv, or little donkeys, in business and will not do much expansion, the report said.
Xiaomanlv is an L4 autonomous driving product launched by DAMO Academy's autonomous driving lab in September 2020 to serve the last three kilometers of delivery, take-out and fresh food delivery.
To date, the autonomous driving robot has entered more than 200 universities and communities, with a fleet size exceeding 500 vehicles.
It is worth noting that DAMO Academy's self-driving lab has undergone previous management changes.
In January 2022, the lab's then-head, Wang Gang, left after three years on board. In March this year, his successor, Chen Junbo, also left after one year in the position.
Alibaba's move underscores the huge challenges facing autonomous driving R&D.
At the end of March, BYD chairman and president Wang Chuanfu said at an earnings meeting that autonomous driving is nonsense that comes out of capital coercion.
BYD has more than 600,000 employees, and the company can't even replace all its workers with machines, because the machines can't simulate every scenario of manual operation, he said.
"It's not even possible to do unattended work on a fixed production line, let alone the ever-changing actual road conditions," Wang said at the time.
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