The world’s consumers are ready for robotaxis. James Peng of Pony AI wants to make sure they’re riding in his

James Peng, cofounder and CEO of Chinese robotaxi startup Pony AI, was reviewing customer data with his team, and he was facing a puzzle. Every day, one of his users would book a robotaxi at the same time: right after lunch.

“After a while, we called him and asked why he always took a ride at that time,” Peng recalled to Fortune.

The user’s answer? “The environment is great. It’s clean. I use it as my napping place!”

For Peng, the regular napper is a sign of how quickly riders are adapting their behavior as self-driving cars start to take over China’s—and the world’s—streets.

Chinese robotaxis are plying the streets of cities like Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. And much like how Waymos are transforming user behavior in San Francisco, robotaxis like Pony AI’s are changing what Chinese passengers are doing.

“Without a driver in the loop, we have to find creative ways to do a lot of things,” Peng says. If a passenger leaves a door open—a common problem for robotaxis—the car might chirp at a passerby in a “cute voice,” in Peng’s words, asking them to close it. If that doesn’t work, Pony AI will reach out to China’s army of delivery gig workers, asking them to close the door and maybe “clean up [the car’s interior] a little bit,” says Peng.

Pony AI is one of several Chinese companies, alongside fellow startup WeRide and search giant Baidu, that are aggressively expanding autonomous vehicles in China and beyond. Pony AI has 1,200 taxis on the road, with plans to hit 3,000 by the end of the year—on track with Waymo. As of early 2026, over 50 Chinese cities allow self-driving cars on public roads in a testing capacity. At least 10 allow commercial operations, the same as in the U.S.

And Chinese robotaxis are now in service well beyond China. Pony AI says it’s now delivering 26 rides per car per day, or somewhere north of 25,000 daily in total, with operations in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Singapore, and is planning to expand into Europe; its counterparts are also expanding around the world. (By comparison, Waymo is present in only two non-U.S. cities: London and Tokyo.)

A number of structural advantages have made China a fertile test bed for self-driving cars.

First, it has a strong manufacturing base that can drive the cost of components down to ultra-affordable levels. That’s thanks to companies like Hesai Technology, which makes the lidar sensors needed for robotaxis to see what’s around them; the Shanghai-based company has slashed the cost of such sensors by 99.5%, enabling them to be installed in cars that cost as little as $15,000. Add China’s broader strength in making EVs and connected cars, and robotaxi firms can tap a wide array of affordable, high-quality vehicles for their fleets.

Peng sees a world with fewer human-driven cars as “inevitable,” citing safety and convenience. “People love to drive; they don’t love driving all the time,” he says. But he doesn’t see that trend as a danger sign for the labor force, noting, “AI will change what we consider ‘work.’ ”

Peng sees a world with fewer human-driven cars as “inevitable,” citing safety and convenience. “People........

© Fortune