RoboTaxi, the final piece of the puzzle to win the race

On October 9 local time, Time magazine included autonomous driving technology in its list of the best inventions of 2025.

This certification is less about awarding a new technology and more about affirming a mature industry. It means that autonomous driving technology has generally passed the early stage of concept verification, and its safety and prospects for large - scale implementation have received global authoritative recognition.

Interestingly, when Time praised Waymo, it specifically labeled China's "Luobo Kuaipao" as Waymo's "biggest global competitor". This judgment is supported by another authoritative list. On September 24, Fortune magazine released its list of "Companies That Are Changing the World" for 2025, and Baidu was included again due to the influence and safety of Luobo Kuaipao in the field of autonomous driving. This is its second time on the list since 2019.

The cross - verification of these two international authoritative awards sends a clear signal: the narrative logic of global technology has shifted. The main storyline of autonomous driving is moving from early - stage technological breakthroughs to market competition and the reshaping of the industrial landscape. What we are witnessing is not the solo performance of one company, but the gradual solidification of a "tripartite confrontation" global competition pattern represented by Luobo Kuaipao, Google's Waymo, and Tesla.

In the past, we were used to looking for Chinese companies on international award lists. It was a stance of "chasing the light", trying to prove ourselves under the rules and standards set by others. This time, Luobo Kuaipao itself has become an important "reference system" in Time magazine's award narrative. Its rapid globalization pace has been regarded as a key factor forcing international giants like Waymo to adjust their market strategies.

The role switch from "being defined" to "participating in defining" and from "chasing the light" to "becoming the light source" is the most profound signal behind this certification. Through this, we can see not only the growth of an enterprise but also the reconstruction of an industrial pattern.

01. Disrupting the Pattern: The "Platform - based" Global Expansion of Chinese Power

The reason why Luobo Kuaipao is regarded by Time magazine as a competitive force that needs serious consideration is not that it has some secret "black technology", but that it has taken a unique globalization path in the past period.

The core logic of this path is not to go it alone, but to "team up" with global ecological giants and expand overseas efficiently in a "platform - based" way. This not only helps it quickly gain a foothold in overseas markets but also quietly changes the industry's competitive rhythm. A careful look at its overseas expansion steps reveals a clear strategy: it rarely enters new markets as a disruptor. Instead, it prefers to play the role of an "enabler" and ally with local leaders in the travel ecosystem.

Its strategic cooperation with Uber and Lyft, the two global leading ride - hailing platforms, is a good example. Through this cooperation, Luobo Kuaipao does not simply export vehicles but an entire set of deployable unmanned transportation systems, including vehicles, dispatching, operation and maintenance, and compliance support.

On August 4, Luobo Kuaipao announced a strategic cooperation with Lyft. Next year, it will be launched in the UK and Germany first, and thousands of autonomous vehicles will be deployed in the European market, achieving the large - scale implementation of autonomous vehicles for the first time. At the same time, more than a thousand Luobo Kuaipao unmanned vehicles will be connected to Uber's vast network in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Oceania.

This model of "technology platform + local operation giant" significantly reduces the policy risks and operating costs of market entry.

In the Middle East market, this strategy has been further implemented. Luobo Kuaipao not only obtained the symbolic No. 001 test license issued by Dubai but also established the first large - scale test fleet in the region. More importantly, it was the only autonomous driving company providing Robotaxi test - ride services at the 4th Dubai World Congress on Self - Driving Transport.

An interesting episode took place at this congress. Due to the limited number of test - ride spots, a Dubai man who failed to get a spot posted a video on social media. He pointed at his Rolex gold watch on his wrist and said angrily, "I missed the reservation. I didn't get it at the last minute and couldn't take this ride... I'd even trade this watch for an experience, just once!" In his view, what he missed was not just a test - ride but "the future".

This slightly exaggerated scene confirms from the side the attractiveness of Luobo Kuaipao's autonomous driving services in the local area - not only official recognition but also the expectation and trust of ordinary users for "future travel".

According to the plan, more than 1,000 fully autonomous vehicles will be deployed in Dubai in the future. The reason why it has gained high - level recognition from the Dubai government in a short time is that this solution can quickly adapt to local needs. By deeply integrating with the local government and industrial ecosystem, it makes technology implementation smoother and more sustainable.

The successful implementation of a series of practical strategies has led to a more symbolic result - Chinese autonomous driving technology has entered a region with a mature regulatory system for the first time as a "high - standard solution", achieving a role transformation from "adapting to the local market" to "serving the world".

Hong Kong has a highly mature legal and regulatory system, and its testing standards for autonomous driving are extremely strict. Especially in the traffic environment of right - hand drive and left - hand traffic, it poses higher requirements for the scene adaptation ability of unmanned vehicles. However, since Luobo Kuaipao obtained the first pilot license for autonomous vehicles in Hong Kong in November 2024, it has achieved multiple breakthroughs in just a few months: in April, it expanded the testing area and started small - scale passenger - carrying tests on the airport island; in June, it entered Tung Chung for road tests; on August 14, it was approved to test on designated sections in the Southern District. As of now, the safe testing mileage in Hong Kong has exceeded 20,000 kilometers.

Based on these solid progress, Bloomberg reported in late September that Luobo Kuaipao is in talks with governments in Australia and some Southeast Asian regions to explore the possibility of entering these markets. The "platform - based global expansion" model has formed a replicable paradigm and sufficient attractiveness, creating a ripple effect globally.

All of the above indicate that it is actively shaping the strategic rhythm of global giants. Time magazine recorded a key piece of information in its report: "As Chinese competitor Luobo Kuaipao enters Europe, Waymo plans to expand its business to Miami, Dallas, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. in 2026."

Waymo's acceleration is essentially due to the "market - oriented advantages" and rapid expansion ability demonstrated by Luobo Kuaipao. More directly, China's innovation in the field of autonomous driving is no longer just a passive response to global trends but has begun to become part of driving trends and influencing the evolution of the pattern.

The initiative in competition is quietly shifting through this proactive global expansion strategy.

02. Upgrading the Competition: The Autonomous Driving Arena Has Changed

It is often said in the industry that the competition in autonomous driving has two stages: in the early stage, it was about who could create an "eye - catching demo", such as completing automatic obstacle avoidance in a closed park; now, it is about who can build a "sustainable commercial closed - loop", that is, a system that is safe, reliable, cost - controllable, and can be quickly replicated in different scenarios. This change in the trend has allowed players like Luobo Kuaipao with solid implementation experience to gradually show different competitiveness.

When talking about autonomous driving, safety is always the first threshold. Waymo's data of "a injury accident rate five times lower than that of human drivers and zero fatalities" has undoubtedly set a reliable reference for the industry.

However, the leading players in the industry are now pursuing goals that go beyond the comparison of a single indicator.

Relying on the "Apollo ADFM large - model + hardware products + safety architecture" solution, Luobo Kuaipao has achieved a safety level more than 10 times higher than that of human drivers. Behind this is a combination of "10 - fold safety redundancy + 6 - fold MRC safety strategy": in terms of hardware, lidar, cameras, and millimeter - wave radars back up each other. Even if a certain component fails suddenly, other systems can immediately take over; in terms of software, from risk prediction to emergency braking, each step has multiple verification mechanisms to avoid errors in a single algorithm.

It should be noted that this system is not a theoretical design in the laboratory but has been verified by a large number of actual driving miles. As of now, Luobo Kuaipao has accumulated more than 200 million kilometers of safe driving (Waymo has 150 million kilometers), and no major casualties have occurred. The actual accident rate of its vehicles is even only 1/14 of that of human drivers.

This system - level safety ability verified by a large number of practices and the solid engineering ability throughout the product life cycle are a more difficult and less replicable path for competitors compared to a single technological breakthrough.

If safety is the key to opening the market door, then cost is the decisive factor in whether the door can be fully opened for large - scale entry.

In this regard, Luobo Kuaipao has controlled the cost of its sixth - generation unmanned vehicle at 204,600 yuan, only 1/7 of the cost of Waymo's unmanned vehicle and even lower than Tesla's planned CyberCab to be mass - produced in 2026. This means that autonomous driving is changing from a high - cost "scientific research project" to a cost - effective "commercial project".

Of course, this cost advantage does not come from "cutting corners" but from the engineering ability to turn "high - tech" into "mass - producible". The independent research and development of core components reduces external dependence, large - scale production spreads the unit cost, and the large - model improves the generalization ability of the algorithm, eliminating the need to develop a separate system for each new scenario.

For global layout, this cost - control ability is more "lethal" than any technical parameter.

When it comes to the ability to adapt to complex road conditions, this is precisely the unique advantage of Chinese players. Many overseas peers think that the road conditions in China are a "nightmare", with mixed traffic of people and vehicles, a large number of non - motor vehicles, and frequent emergencies. However, from another perspective, this "complexity" is actually the best "stress test field".

Luobo Kuaipao has been operating in more than a dozen cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou for many years. It has seen scenarios like "pedestrians crossing the road suddenly", "rainy - day waterlogging obscuring road markings", and "electric bikes cutting in line". These experiences have made its algorithm better at handling extreme situations. That's why it can quickly adapt to the right - hand drive and left - hand traffic environment in Hong Kong and complete passenger - carrying tests on the airport island and road tests in Tung Chung in just a few months; in Dubai, it can also quickly adjust its sensors in the face of high - temperature and sandy weather and carry out tests smoothly.

Just like a driver who has driven on complex mountain roads will drive more steadily on flat roads, the "adaptability" that Luobo Kuaipao has developed in the complex road conditions in China has become its "moat" for global implementation, which is also an important reason for its rapid progress in Europe and the Middle East.

After all, the competition in autonomous driving has long passed the stage of "whose technology is more dazzling". The safety system determines whether users and regulators will trust, cost control determines whether large - scale implementation is possible, and road - condition adaptation determines whether it can be quickly replicated. Only when these three aspects come together can a complete commercial closed - loop be formed.

Luobo Kuaipao's competitiveness lies in its solid implementation of these three aspects of ability, and this systematic ability has ultimately become the deciding factor in the current arena.

03. Winning the Game: The Last Piece of the Puzzle

Looking back at this moment, we can see a tense picture: on the one hand, Chinese autonomous driving technology represented by Luobo Kuaipao has proven its competitiveness on the global stage. It has not only joined the "big three" but also disrupted the global market pattern with its unique "platform - based" global expansion strategy; on the other hand, when we turn our attention back to the domestic market, we will find an undeniable reality, that is, there is an increasingly obvious contrast between the overseas expansion of technology and the large - scale implementation at home.

The most direct manifestation of this contrast is that our unmanned vehicles can obtain the No. 001 test license in Dubai and plan to deploy more than a thousand vehicles, can cooperate with Uber and Lyft to enter the European and American markets, and can adapt to the complex right - hand drive and left - hand traffic environment in Hong Kong; however, in most domestic cities, the large - scale operation of fully unmanned vehicles still faces many restrictions. This situation of "flowers blooming outside while inside the wall" reflects to some extent the unique situation of the development of the Chinese autonomous driving industry.

Behind this contradiction lies a market potential far beyond our current imagination.

In February this year, ARK Invest, under "Woody" Cathie Wood, known as the "female Warren Buffett", released its report "Big Ideas 2025", which predicted that the market size of autonomous taxis is expected to reach $10 trillion by 2030. The report clearly pointed out that the United States and China are leading the autonomous taxi revolution, and Waymo and Baidu's Luobo Kuaipao are the main contributors to autonomous ride - hailing services in the two countries respectively.

Woody's outlook reflects a deeper logic: the real value of innovation is not only to meet existing needs but also to create new market space. According to her estimate, when autonomous driving reduces the travel cost from $1.1 per mile to $0.25, it will give rise to an ecosystem that is hard to fully imagine today.

Of course, the realization of this huge market prospect depends on the "green light" from policies and regulations. When we look at the world's major markets, we can see that developed countries such as Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK have been actively revising road traffic laws and regulations in recent years to clear legal obstacles for the commercial operation of autonomous driving; 41 states and Washington, D.C. in the United States have legislated for autonomous driving, and at the federal level, there are plans to revise safety standards in 2026 to eliminate regulatory barriers. These measures are essentially laying the indispensable "institutional infrastructure" for industrial development.

Facing this global situation, we need to clearly recognize that Luobo Kuaipao's current technological and market advantages are far from a reason to relax. With Waymo accelerating its layout in the US market and Tesla being approved for operation in multiple states, any lead may be temporary.

Technology can go global, but the root of innovation needs a deeper soil - that is, a policy environment that can tolerate trial - and - error and encourage breakthroughs. In this sense, it