Two hundred robotaxis from Chinese Autonomous Driving corporations Pony.ai will run on Korean roads. These are vehicles from BAIC with Pony.ai's Autonomous Driving technology onboard.
FutureLink, an Autonomous Driving-focused subsidiary of KOSDAQ-listed PonyLink, will handle Pony.ai robotaxis' certification in Korea and service operations.
◇ FutureLink, Pony.ai have worked together for two years... "Confident about commercialization"
On the 28th in Seoul, FutureLink signed a strategic agreement with Pony.ai for domestic robotaxi commercialization.
FutureLink will bring in 10 seventh-generation robotaxis—BAIC vehicles outfitted with Pony.ai's Autonomous Driving technology—and complete certification procedures with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and others. At the same time, it plans to add 190 more and operate a fleet of 200 robotaxis in areas including Seoul. Starting with pilot operation zones, it plans to expand across Seoul by 2028 and then into other cities.
Pony.ai competes with global Autonomous Driving corporations such as Google's Waymo, Tesla and Baidu. Its cumulative Autonomous Driving mileage exceeds 110 million kilometers. It operates driverless robotaxis at a commercial Level 4 (capable of driving without driver intervention) in four cities including Beijing and Shanghai in China. Pony.ai plans to expand its robotaxi operations to 4,000 vehicles by the end of this year, focusing on Europe and the Middle East.
The seventh-generation robotaxi chosen by FutureLink from Pony.ai is based on a platform BAIC designed for Autonomous Driving from the outset. Unlike other robotaxis that modify vehicles, dual-redundant architectures for key systems such as braking, steering and power are applied from mass production. A feature is that if a specific sensor fails during unmanned operation, the vehicle can stop using other sensors.
Pony.ai said it cut component costs by 70% compared with the previous generation. The company said it is more price-competitive than converted vehicles.
FutureLink and Pony.ai plan to establish a joint venture (JV) once the certification process in Korea is complete. The investment size, revenue split and equity structure have not yet been decided. A FutureLink official said, "We plan to establish the entity in line with the scale at which the (robotaxi business) proceeds domestically."
The collaboration between FutureLink and Pony.ai began two years ago. FutureLink installed Pony.ai's sixth-generation Autonomous Driving technology on the Kona and validated it by driving more than 80,000 kilometers around Gangnam. Chief Executive Cha Doo-won of FutureLink said, "We drove this distance in Gangnam, where congestion is high and there are many construction zones and two-wheelers, without accidents," adding, "Bringing in high-quality Autonomous Driving vehicles has given us confidence that we can commercialize."
◇ Concerns about Chinese tech infiltration… "We should learn advanced technology and build the market"
Some in the industry warn that Chinese Autonomous Driving technology could encroach on the domestic mobility industry amid this agreement. While the domestic Autonomous Driving industry has not cleared the commercialization hurdle, Chinese corporations have effectively entered Korea. China's Baidu is also pushing to set up a joint venture with a domestic company.
The influence of Chinese technology appears to be spreading across Korea's mobility industry. Early this month, KG Mobility(003620) signed a strategic investment agreement with Chery Automobile Co. The core is to bring in Chery's plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drive system and software-defined vehicle (SDV) technology to develop new cars.
Addressing some of the concerns, FutureLink said Korea should learn advanced Autonomous Driving technology, build a domestic market and internalize the technology. Cha said, "Working with corporations that have mature technology to build the market and strengthen capabilities is one path of open innovation," adding, "Starting from scratch is important, but to build a business model and generate revenue, you need a proven partner."
Nam Gyeong-pil, chairman of PonyLink and FutureLink, said, "If Apple had not entered Korea, would Samsung have developed as it has now?" adding, "It is important to secure competitiveness through competition."
There are also concerns that if robotaxis based on overseas technology are commercialized, Korean data could be taken abroad. In response, Pony.ai CEO James Peng said, "As a principle, data generated locally overseas is stored only in that country," adding, "Not only driving habit data but images of people and license plates captured by the vehicle are mosaicked before storage."