When Didi created an autonomous automobile subsidiary in 2020, the enterprise was seen as a Chinese language counterpart to Uber’s AV unit. The tides of change have since swept throughout China’s tech panorama, the place web corporations went via a wave of regulatory crackdown and overseas investments dwindled amid worsening U.S.-China relations. Didi’s AV unit remained within the shadow throughout Beijing’s knowledge safety probe into its dad or mum agency, however it has lastly weathered the storm, now freshly pumped with financing.
Beforehand backed by SoftBank, Didi Autonomous Driving announced at this time that it’s going to obtain as much as $149 million in funding from two traders affiliated with the municipal authorities of Guangzhou, a southern Chinese language metropolis: GAC Group’s wholly owned subsidiary GAC Capital and Guangzhou Growth District Funding Group.
In China, a relationship with native governments is essential to bringing an organization’s robotaxis onto the street. Although not spelled out in its announcement, it received’t be stunning to see accelerated progress in Didi’s robotaxi rollout within the megacity with 18 million people. In March, Didi’s autonomous autos already started industrial operation within the Huadu District of Guangzhou.
With the brand new proceeds, Didi plans to take a position “deeply in analysis and growth, speed up the implementation of associated merchandise, pursue open collaborations within the trade chain, construct a sustainable and open trade ecosystem, and expedite the widespread industrial use of autonomous driving know-how.”
In April, Didi introduced ambitions to introduce self-developed robotaxis to the general public on a 24/7 foundation by 2025. It’s struck partnerships with a handful of OEMs to construct the {hardware}, together with Lincoln, BYD, Nissan and Volvo. Its ties with GAC deepened when it emerged in Might it had formed a joint venture with the carmaker’s electrical automobile subsidiary Aion to mass produce plugged-in robotaxis.