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Pony.ai

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Pony AI Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: PONY
IndustryAutonomous vehicles
FoundedDecember 2016; 8 years ago (2016-12)
FoundersJames Peng
Tiancheng Lou
Headquarters
Fremont, California
,
U.S.
Key people
James Peng (CEO)[1]
Tiancheng Lou (CTO)
Number of employees
1,300 (2024)[2]
Websitewww.pony.ai

Pony AI Inc. (simplified Chinese: 小马智行; traditional Chinese: 小馬智行; pinyin: Xiǎomǎ Zhìxíng) is a global autonomous vehicle technology company co-located in Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Guangzhou.[3]

History

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The company was founded in December 2016 by James Peng and Tiancheng Lou, formerly software developers for Baidu in Silicon Valley.[4][5]

The company has partnered with equipment manufacturers such as Toyota. Pony.ai has permits to run fully driverless ride-hailing services in Beijing and Guangzhou, China.[6]

In April 2019, Pony.ai launched a pilot system covering 50 km2 (19 sq mi) in Guangzhou for employees and invited affiliates, serving pre-defined pick-up points.[7]

In November 2019, the company started a three-month trial in Irvine, California, with 10 cars and defined stops for pick-up and drop-off.[8]

In May 2021, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) permitted Pony.ai to test six autonomous vehicles without human safety drivers on specified streets in Fremont, Milpitas and Irvine. The permit restricts operation to roads with speed limits not exceeding 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) in clear weather and light precipitation. Testing was planned to start in Fremont and Milpitas on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.[9] In June 2021, testing began in Fremont and Milpitas.[10]

On October 28, a Pony.ai vehicle operating in autonomous mode hit a road center divider and a traffic sign in Fremont after turning right. In December 2021, California DMV suspended a driverless testing permit for Pony.ai following this accident. It is the first time for DMV to issue such a suspension.[11] Subsequently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a probe.[12] More than four months after the accident, the NHTSA announced the "first recall of an automated driving system" as the company complied with the government agency’s request.[13] In May 2022, California DMV revoked Pony.ai's permit for failing to monitor the driving records of the safety drivers on its testing permit.[14] As of June 2023, Pony.ai is back to testing its fleet with safety drivers present in California.[6]

According to the California DMV, in 2021 Pony.ai had the third-highest number of miles driven, behind Waymo and Cruise.[15]

In April 2022, Pony.ai became the first autonomous driving company to get a taxi license in China.[16]

In July 2022, Pony.ai partnered with equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry to mass produce autonomous driving trucks in China.[17]

In April 2023, Pony.ai was licensed to operate robotaxi services in Guangzhou.[18]

In August 2023, Toyota and Pony.ai developed plans to mass produce robotaxis in China. The two companies and GAC-Toyota, a venture between the Japanese automaker and Chinese state-owned Guangzhou Automobile Group, will invest more than 1 billion yuan ($140 million) combined.[19]

Financing

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In January 2018, Pony.ai completed a $112 million Series A round co-led by Morningside Venture Capital and Legend Capital with seed round lead-investor Sequoia China and investor IDG Capital also participating in the round, alongside Hongtai Capital, Legend Star, Puhua Capital, Polaris Capital, DCM Ventures, Comcast Ventures and Silicon Valley Future Capital.[20]

In February 2020, Toyota invested $400 million in the company as part of a funding round of $462 million.[21] Toyota previously announced that it was working with Pony.ai to test self-driving cars on public roads in Beijing and Shanghai.[22]

As of 2020, the company had a valuation of $5.3 billion.[23]

The company intended to go public on the New York Stock Exchange via an SPAC route. However, in 2021, the company suspended its plans due to Chinese regulators.[24]

In October 2023, Pony.ai received $100 million from Neom, Saudi Arabia, to develop, manufacture and deploy autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure in Neom and the MENA region. The agreement includes the establishment of a regional R&D and manufacturing headquarters.[25]

In November 2024, Pony.ai held its initial public offering (IPO) and became a listed company on the Nasdaq raising $260 million. This is one of the largest IPOs in the United States stock market involving autonomous driving sector.[26] Shares 15% opened above their offer price in their market debut.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Pony.ai CEO Claims Autonomous Cars Coming to Public Roads in 5 Years". FutureCar. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  2. ^ Bellan, Rebecca; O'Kane, Sean (19 October 2024). "Four takeaways from Pony AI's IPO filing". TechCrunch.
  3. ^ "California has let two Chinese startups offer robotaxis to the public". TechCrunch. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. ^ "8 Questions With James Peng of Pony.ai, One of China's Most Valuable Autonomous Vehicle Startups". Time. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Toyota teams with Pony.ai for driverless road tests in China". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b Council, Stephen (2023-06-16). "Bay Area driver arrested for allegedly rear-ending driverless car". SF Gate. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  7. ^ "Pony.ai tests robo-taxi program on its employees, promises self-driving trucks next". Venture Beat. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Pony.ai to launch BotRide robo-taxi service in Irvine". Venture Beat. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Chinese startup Pony.ai can now test driverless vehicles in three California cities". TechCrunch. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  10. ^ "Pony.ai Claims to Be the First Company to Test Driverless Vehicles in Both the U.S. and China". Robotics 24/7. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  11. ^ "California halts Pony.ai's driverless testing permit after accident". Reuters. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  12. ^ Shepardson, David (2022-03-29). "U.S. agency to review if Pony.ai complied with crash reporting order". Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  13. ^ Shepardson, David (8 March 2022). "Startup Pony.ai agrees to automated driving software recall". Reuters. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  14. ^ Rebecca Bellan (25 May 2022). "Pony.ai loses permit to test autonomous vehicles with driver in California". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  15. ^ Bellan, Rebecca (2022-02-10). "Despite a drop in how many companies are testing autonomous driving on California roads, miles driven are way up". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  16. ^ "Baidu, Pony.AI win first driverless robotaxi permits in China". TechCrunch. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  17. ^ Cheng, Evelyn (2022-07-28). "Self-driving start-up Pony.ai plans to mass produce robotrucks in China". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  18. ^ Standard, The. "Pony.ai gets permit for driverless robotaxi services in Guangzhou". The Standard. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  19. ^ "Toyota, Pony.ai plan to mass produce robotaxis in China". Reuters. 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  20. ^ "Autonomous Driving Startup Pony.ai Raises $112M". Business Wire. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Autonomous driving startup Pony.ai raises $462 million in Toyota-led funding". Reuters. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  22. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (2020-02-25). "Toyota steers $400 million to self-driving startup Pony.ai". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  23. ^ "Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai hits $5.3 billion valuation". TechCrunch. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  24. ^ Hu, Krystal; Wu, Kane; Zhu, Julie; Sun, Yilei (2021-08-11). "EXCLUSIVE China's tech crackdown thwarts Pony.ai's U.S. listing plans -sources". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  25. ^ Bellan, Rebecca (2023-10-25). "Pony.ai gets $100M, establishes JV with Saudi Arabia's Neom". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  26. ^ 杨洋. "Chinese self-driving startup Pony.ai debuts on Nasdaq". global.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  27. ^ "Pony AI fetches $5.25 bln valuation as shares jump 15% in Nasdaq debut". Reuters. November 28, 2024.
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