A passenger rides in a commercially operated driverless taxi on a city street. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chongqing - Chinese autonomous driving firm Momenta recently secured a permit to test its Level 4 Robotaxi technology on public roads in Shenzhen. Almost at the same time, Tesla expanded its Robotaxi service to Orlando and Tampa, marking a new round of urban expansion for both companies.

Momenta is a Chinese supplier of mass-produced intelligent driving software. It mainly generates revenue by providing automakers with software development, vehicle adaptation and licensing services. According to its Hong Kong listing prospectus, the company recorded revenue of about 2.413 billion yuan (356.27 million U.S. dollars) in 2025.

Robotaxi is an important part of Momenta’s business. Mass-produced vehicles equipped with the company’s autonomous-driving systems continuously collect data to improve Robotaxi algorithms, while advances in Robotaxi technology are fed back into its mass-production business, creating a closed technology loop.

Momenta usually does not operate Robotaxi fleets directly. Instead, it works with automakers and mobility platforms. During the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Xiangdao Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing platform, announced the launch of a mass-produced, customized SAIC Robotaxi project. The vehicle will use Momenta’s Level 4 autonomous driving system, be manufactured by SAIC Motor and operated by Xiangdao Chuxing. It is scheduled to debut in 2027.

Momenta’s Robotaxi business remains at an early stage. A total of 31 vehicles were in operation in 2025.

Unlike Momenta, Tesla builds its own Robotaxi service network. According to its website, the service currently mainly uses Model Y vehicles and has expanded to cities including Austin, Dallas and Houston. Users can book rides through a standalone Robotaxi app. The Cybercab, designed specifically for driverless mobility, has not yet entered service.

In its Q1 2026 business update released on April, Tesla said it had launched “unsupervised” Robotaxi services in Dallas and Houston. However, the company has not disclosed fleet size, order volume or specific supervision arrangements in Orlando and Tampa.

China’s Robotaxi market embraces multiple business models

Momenta represents a common division-of-labor model in China’s Robotaxi industry: autonomous driving companies provide the systems, automakers develop and manufacture the vehicles, and mobility platforms handle orders and fleet operations. The model allows each party to focus on its strengths while reducing the financial burden on technology companies that would otherwise have to build and operate their own fleets.

Other models also exist in China. Baidu’s Apollo Go is closer to an integrated technology-and-operations model. It controls the autonomous driving system, ride-hailing app and operating network, while working with automakers to develop vehicles.

Baidu’s first-quarter 2026 financial report showed that Apollo Go completed 3.2 million fully driverless rides during the quarter. By April, it had provided more than 22 million rides in total, indicating that the service had entered a stage of high-frequency commercial operation.

Pony.ai uses a combination of self-operated and jointly deployed services. It directly operates paid Robotaxi services while also working with automakers, including BAIC and GAC, as well as mobility platforms and fleet operators.

By May 2026, Pony.ai’s fleet had exceeded 1,700 vehicles. Its Robotaxi revenue rose 395.4% year on year in the first quarter, while fare revenue increased 456.5%. The company raised its year-end fleet target to more than 3,500 vehicles and plans to operate in over 20 cities worldwide.

Policy is also supporting greater industry collaboration. In July, the revised Regulations of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on the Administration of Intelligent Connected Vehicles took effect. The rules lowered application thresholds, supported fully driverless testing and called for the orderly expansion of road testing and demonstration services across the city.

U.S. Robotaxi players pursue different paths to scale

In the United States, Waymo remains the largest Robotaxi operator by commercial scale. Alphabet said during its Q1 2026 earnings call that Waymo completed more than 500,000 fully autonomous rides a week across 11 major U.S. cities, with ride volume doubling in less than a year.

Waymo combines self-operated services with platform partnerships. In San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, users book rides through the Waymo app. In Austin and Atlanta, the service is available only through Uber.

Amazon-owned Zoox focuses on purpose-built vehicles and vertical integration. It has developed a bidirectional Robotaxi without a steering wheel or conventional driver’s seat, along with its own supporting systems. At the same time, Zoox has begun working with external platforms.

In March 2026, Zoox and Uber announced a partnership to integrate Zoox’s Las Vegas fleet into the Uber platform and expand to Los Angeles by mid-2027 at the latest. Zoox will retain its own app.

Uber is increasingly becoming a platform organizer in the Robotaxi industry. After selling its autonomous driving unit, the company shifted toward providing ride demand, passenger services and fleet-operation support.

Under its partnership with Nuro and Lucid, Lucid is responsible for the vehicles, Nuro provides the autonomous driving system, and Uber or third-party partners own and operate the fleets. The three companies plan to deploy more than 20,000 Robotaxis over six years.

Chinese and U.S. Robotaxi companies announced expansion into new cities, but “entering” a city can mean different things. Some services remain in road testing, some are limited to invited users, some are open to paying passengers, and others operate without anyone in the driver’s seat.

Based on publicly available data, Waymo and Apollo Go lead in ride volume. Pony.ai is expanding its fleet through mass-produced, factory-installed vehicles. Tesla and Zoox are trying to build driverless mobility brands through integrated hardware and software, while Momenta is participating in Robotaxi commercialization as a software supplier working with automakers and mobility platforms.