What The Hell America!

Chinese and American companies have long led the costly endeavor of developing autonomous ride-hailing services. Now, robotaxi firms are taking the competition global. 

The Alphabet-owned Waymo, which launched the world’s first fully driverless service in Phoenix in 2020, remains the largest operator in the U.S. But Chinese rivals are quickly catching up in both scale and technological capability. Chinese tech giant BaiduiBaiduBaidu is a Chinese technology company that operates the country’s biggest search engine and video-streaming service iQiyi.READ MORE recently announced its Apollo Go robotaxi service has completed more than 11 million rides, surpassing Waymo’s reported 10 million. The company is now testing in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, with reported plans to expand to Switzerland and Turkey. 

Top Chinese contenders WeRide and Pony.ai — both listed in the U.S. and backed by investors including Nvidia and Toyota — are also rapidly expanding through partnerships with Uber in Europe and the Middle East. Both companies have secured permits to test in the U.S.  

Meanwhile, Elon Musk recently said Tesla will launch its much-delayed robotaxi service in Austin this month, with San Francisco and Los Angeles to follow. 

Robotaxis use a combination of advanced sensors, cameras, and artificial intelligence to operate with minimal human input. But commercial rollout remains complex, requiring extensive regulatory approvals and testing. 

Chinese firms are highly motivated to expand globally to attract international investors, according to Zhang Xiang, a Chinese automotive expert and visiting professor at Huanghe Science and Technology University.

“There are very few robotaxi competitors outside of China, so it is easier for Chinese players to raise funds overseas … to continue with research and development needed to survive,” Zhang told Rest of World. 

Baidu only began testing its robotaxi operations at scale in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in August 2022. In the first quarter of this year, it reported a 75% year-over-year increase in total rides, after expanding domestic service to 11 cities. 

Even at the current level of automation — where vehicles can operate in driverless modes only in certain government-approved areas — robotaxis would commercially scale only by 2030, according to a McKinsey report. It would cost billions to reach expanded fully driverless capability.

While Waymo has continued to draw funding from its parent company and external investors, other U.S. players have pulled back. In December, General Motors halted investment in Cruise after spending $10 billion, citing the high costs of scaling. Motional paused its robotaxi partnership with Uber and Lyft last year, saying it would resume only when “unit economics are more favorable.”

Chinese companies benefit from strong automotive supply chains and enthusiastic support from a central government that views autonomous vehicles as a key area of innovation. More than 50 cities across China have introduced testing-friendly policies for autonomous vehicles. 

While none of China’s robotaxi firms have reported turning a profit, Beijing’s push for a tech-driven economy and loosened regulations has helped attract investments in the sector. 

Zhang noted that China’s population of 1.4 billion, compared with the U.S. population of 340 million, creates a naturally larger market for this new form of ride-hailing. 

“The business model of robotaxis, like many consumer-facing tech industries, was first created by the U.S., and caught up in China quickly because of the market size — just like e-commerce,” Zhang said. 

Both Chinese and American companies are working to reduce costs. But a robotaxi ride in China costs about 35 cents per mile, compared with $2 in the U.S., according to a 2025 report by U.S.-based investment firm ARK. China’s auto industry offers globally competitive prices due to government subsidies, a comprehensive supply chain, and cheap labour, analysts say.