By Greg Gao

Pony.ai(小马智行), a Chinese self-driving technology startup, announced it has obtained a taxi license in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province on April 24, the first robotaxi company to do so in China. The license allows Pony.ai to operate 100 self-driving cars as taxis in the Nansha district of Guangzhou.

This marks that self-driving vehicles are officially included in the transportation operation and management of general vehicles, a breakthrough in the process of commercialization of self-driving technology in China. It is the first company to be allowed to commercialize robotaxi services in Beijing and Guangzhou.

Pony.ai will start charging operations in an area of 800 square kilometers in Nansha from May, and will gradually expand its services to other areas in Guangzhou, benefiting more Guangzhou citizens. Passengers can hail rides and pay for the service through the PonyPilot+ App. The service period is from 8:30 to 22:30, and the charging standard is under the pricing standard for taxis in Guangzhou.

Founded in December 2016, Pony.ai is an autonomous vehicle technology company co-located in Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Guangzhou. It announced the first close of the Series D financing round on March 7, with a valuation of $8.5 billion.