Chinese tech giant Baidu said on Tuesday its robotaxis have captured about 10% of the ride-hailing market in suburban Beijing
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China-based self-driving company Pony.ai secures backing from automakers toyotaThe company filed for an initial public offering in the United States on Thursday, another sign of growing investor interest in new listings and easing regulatory pressure.
IPO market activity has accelerated in recent weeks, boosted by the start of a much-anticipated policy easing cycle by the Federal Reserve and benchmark indexes near record highs.
Pony.ai, in which Japan’s Toyota holds a 13.4% stake, revealed that its revenue in the first half of 2024 will almost double to US$24.7 million.
The company said it operates a fleet of more than 250 robotaxis and has accumulated more than 33.5 million kilometers of autonomous driving, including more than 3.9 million kilometers of unmanned driving.
The company will be valued at $8.5 billion when it raises funding in 2022.
Even so, analysts and industry experts note that building robotaxis could still take years, largely due to challenges in ensuring safety and reliability. They cited accidents and situations where the technology struggled to cope with conditions such as bad weather, complex intersections and unpredictable pedestrian behavior.
Since Beijing restricted overseas financing in 2021, the number of Chinese companies listed in the United States has declined in the past few years.
Electric car maker Zeekr’s debut This May marked the first major U.S. listing by a Chinese company since then. Earlier this month, express delivery companies Bing Also listed on Nasdaq.
Pony.ai has applied to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange with the stock code “PONY”. The company did not disclose the size of its offering.
Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank, Huatai Securities and Tiger Brokers are the underwriters of this offering.
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