News Snapshot:
Baidu and Pony.ai have been granted permission to operate their autonomous vehicles without safety drivers in Beijing, a first for robotic axi services in China (via CNBC). While both companies no longer require a staff member at the wheel, they do require an attendant present somewhere in the vehicle. Baidu and Pony.ai cannot yet operate throughout the city of Beijing – they are limited to an area of 60 square kilometers in Beijing’s Yizhuang, which is home to about 300,000 residents. While Baidu can only deploy 10 autonomous vehicles in the area, CNBC says Pony.ai can serve only four. Both...
