BEIJING, CHINA – JULY 11: People take photos of the WeRide Robobus, a driverless bus capable of SAE Level 4 autonomous driving, at the Beijing High Level Autonomous Driving Demonstration Area on July 11, 2024 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Jia Tianyong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
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Self-driving technology company WeRide is accelerating its global expansion as the AI boom boosts the adoption of machine learning in transportation.
“…Logistics delivery and waste transportation — these two areas have progressed, from indoor robotics to outdoor robotics to autonomous countryside. Things are moving relatively fast because of the development of artificial intelligence right now,” said Sebastian Yee , Singapore director of business development at WeRide.
In June, the company started security testing for “Robosweepers” in Singapore, following a similar launch in several cities in China.
After passing safety tests, these vehicles will operate fully autonomously without a safety driver. These AI-powered vehicles can perform various sanitation tasks such as street sweeping, water spraying and disinfection, as well as detect road conditions and avoid pedestrians and obstacles.
In the same month, WeRide as well developed an autonomous public bus service with a safety guide on board, at Resorts World Sentosa, a resort south of Singapore.
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2017, the company launched a robotaxi service in Guangzhou, China in 2019 and has received strategic investments from global automakers such as Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi alliance and GAC Group.
The company is developing and testing a number of self-driving technologies, the most advanced being one where the vehicle can drive itself but still have a safety driver behind the wheel as a precaution.
“WeRide is the only company that has [driverless] licenses from USA, China, UAE and Singapore. Some [companies] we just have licenses from one or two countries, but we have four countries,” said Kerry Xu, general manager of WeRide in Singapore.
“We are not just a Chinese company, but more of an international company. We have actually started to expand to other countries,” Xu said.
WeRide is now targeting other markets such as Japan and Europe.
“We’re going to Europe. Two months ago, we actually watched the French Open. We developed a vehicle. So we’re slowly branching out. And I think this is a first step,” Yee said.
WeRide on Friday filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq, without disclosing the amount it aims to raise. This could be the largest U.S. listing by a Chinese company since Didi’s IPO in 2021. The company was subsequently delisted after reports that Chinese regulators asked the company’s executives to formulate a plan to do so. .
WeRide, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, said in an SEC filing on Friday that it may face “various legal and operational risks and uncertainties related to being headquartered or operating our business primarily in mainland China.” WeRide declined to comment on the IPO.
“Commercial concept”
WeRide decided to enter Singapore and the UAE as they are the hubs of Southeast Asia and the Middle East, respectively, and both countries “are very open” to autonomous vehicle technology, Yee said.
“We need to have a well-established government and ecosystem,” Yee said, adding that there needs to be a certain level of regulation in the market.
Countries must also have a “level of understanding of AI development” as well as “commercial acumen”.
“Some of the countries may not have that commercial level, but they have the vision that they want to build. If you don’t have that vision, it doesn’t make sense.”
Singapore has been conducting AV trials for the past few years, with A*STAR’s self-driving vehicle being the first to be approved for testing on public roads in July 2015. Changi Airport plans to try a self-driving bus to move workers to its restricted area from this quarter, as part of efforts to boost productivity.
AV development could help countries with aging populations, such as Japan and Singapore, overcome labor force constraints. One of Singapore’s goals is to reduce the pressure of a growing and aging population on the roads by using AVs to augment public transport.
While the US giants like it Tesla and AlphabetWaymo has made significant advances in the AV industry, with Chinese automakers leading the way in innovation and production.
In its latest move to increase adoption, the Chinese government in June approval granted in a first group of nine domestic automakers incl BYD and Neo to begin conditionally testing automated driving technologies on certain public roads.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to get regulatory approval for the company’s Full-Self-Driving technology in China by the end of this year.
