WeRide, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, has been given the green light to test its driverless vehicles with passengers in California, a significant development amid the global race for autonomous vehicle technology.
What Happened: The California Public Utilities Commission has granted WeRide a permit to test its driverless vehicles with passengers.
The permit, valid for three years, allows WeRide to operate in San Jose and nearby areas with both manned and unmanned test vehicles. The company is not permitted to offer rides to the general public or charge any fares.
WeRide is looking to raise up to $119.4 million via a U.S. initial public offering (IPO,) according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Why It Matters: The approval for WeRide comes amid a competitive landscape in the autonomous driving sector. Recently, Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Waymo faced public backlash due to its vehicles causing disturbances in San Francisco.
This highlights the ongoing challenges autonomous vehicle companies face in gaining public acceptance.
Furthermore, Gary Black, Managing Partner at The Future Fund, has expressed skepticism about Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) ability to maintain a monopoly in the unsupervised L4/L5 autonomy market.
He believes that other companies, including Waymo, Baidu, and Mobileye, will achieve and receive approval for unsupervised Level 4/5 autonomy around the same time as Tesla.
A recent poll indicated that nearly 50% of respondents foresee Tesla getting approval for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology by 2025.
Lastly, Black has emphasized that Waymo has set the benchmark for Tesla to gain approval for its robotaxi service. For Tesla to obtain similar approval, it must demonstrate efficacy comparable to Waymo's and be willing to assume liability for any damage or injury.
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Image by WeRide via PRNewswire
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote