Chinese automakers drive Europe toward autonomous future

Having reshaped commutes in China with efficient, safe and intelligent mobility, Chinese self-driving robotaxi companies are now aiming to bring more autonomous taxi services into the daily lives of European residents.

In Shenzhen, residents have grown quite accustomed to having artificial intelligence (AI) behind the wheel. Even during rush hour, autonomous taxis navigate the city's streets, gliding through traffic as if they know every road and alley by heart. The taxis anticipate complex road conditions before they arise and brake the instant something unexpected happens.

Pony.ai and Baidu are two of the major players in China's robotaxi sector, each operating over 1,000 self-driving taxis on public roads. These driverless services are not just changing how people commute -- they're also making cities safer and more efficient.

Now, Pony.ai has its sights set on Europe. It hopes to bring robotaxi services to European cities -- an ambition that's far more complex than it sounds.

Road conditions in Europe differ dramatically from those in China, with streets that are often narrow and challenging to navigate.

"The Chinese autonomous driving companies need to retrain the models. European roads feature very narrow streets and roundabouts is very common. And also a very mixed urban, suburban, rural traffic condition,” said Ron Zheng, a senior partner at management consultancy firm Roland Berger.

Pony.ai has set up base in Luxembourg, in the heart of Europe, to train its models from the ground up, teaching them to navigate roundabouts, cobblestones, and medieval street layouts.

Andreas Reschka, a director of product, systems and safety at Pony.ai, said, "The key thing is really figuring out how do people drive differently, how do they react differently in different situations?"

"We use a lot of generative AI, especially in our simulation environment, to create artificial worlds, to create more test cases," he said.

Europe's journey towards autonomous cars may take years, but in China, the future is already taking shape: some Chinese cities now allow fully driverless taxis on designated roads with no safety driver, and no one in the front seat.

"All those hardware and software and AI designs integrated together to ensure the safety. Our record has shown it's almost 10 times safer than a typical human driver," said James Peng, founder and CEO of Pony.ai.

Beyond passenger transport, China's self-driving trucks are also reshaping the future of freight. These vehicles travel along highways and major logistics corridors, moving goods seamlessly between cities, and around ports and large industrial facilities.

A key reason Chinese companies have been able to develop cutting-edge autonomous driving technology and bring it to market is government support and clear guidance provided by regulators. As these firms set their sights on Europe, that may well be the most important lesson of all.

Chinese automakers drive Europe toward autonomous future

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival