WeRide expands globally as transportation industry adopts AI

Self-driving technology firm WeRide is accelerating its global expansion as the artificial intelligence boom boosts adoption of machine learning in transportation.

“… Logistics delivery and waste transport — these two areas have been moving forward, from indoor robotics to outdoor robotics to autonomous outdoors. Things are moving relatively fast because of the development of AI right now,” said Sebastian Yee, Singapore director of business development at WeRide.

In June, the firm began safety testing for “Robosweepers” in Singapore, following similar rollouts in multiple cities in China.

After passing safety testing, these vehicles will operate fully autonomous without a safety driver. These AI-powered vehicles can perform various sanitation tasks such as road sweeping, water spraying and disinfection, as well as detect road conditions and avoid pedestrians and obstacles.

In the same month, WeRide also deployed an autonomous public shuttle bus service with a safety driver onboard, at Resorts World Sentosa, a resort island south of Singapore.

Founded in Silicon Valley in 2017, the firm launched a robotaxi service in Guangzhou, China in 2019 and has received strategic investments from global automakers like the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi alliance and GAC Group.

The firm develops and tests a range of autonomous driving technologies with the most advanced being one where the vehicle can drive on its own, but still has a safety driver behind the wheel as a precaution.

“WeRide is the only company which has [driverless] permits from the U.S., China, UAE and Singapore. Some [companies] just have permits from one or two countries, but we have four countries,” said Kerry Xu, Singapore general manager of WeRide.

“We are not just a China company, but more of an international company. We actually started expanding to other countries,” said Xu.

WeRide is now eyeing other markets such as Japan and Europe.

“We’re going to Europe. Two months ago, we actually attended the French Open. We deployed a vehicle. So slowly we will branch out. And I think that is a first step,” said Yee.

WeRide on Friday filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, without revealing the sum it aims to raise. This could be the biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese company since Didi’s IPO in 2021. The ride-hailing firm subsequently delisted after reports that Chinese regulators asked the firm’s executives to formulate a plan to do so. 

WeRide, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, said in an SEC filing Friday that it may face “various legal and operational risks and uncertainties associated with being based in or having our operations…