Chinese mobility company CaoCao has partnered with US autonomous vehicle technology group May Mobility to examine the potential for large-scale robotaxi roll-out in overseas markets, beginning in Europe.
The agreement covers joint feasibility assessments and commercial pilot programmes in selected European markets.
The work is intended to move from pilot-stage validation towards broader deployment, May Mobility said in a press statement.
Under the arrangement, CaoCao will act as fleet owner and operator, using its experience in ride-hailing, fleet operations and vehicle upkeep.
May Mobility CEO and founder Edwin Olson said: “Expanding autonomous ride-hail across new countries takes technology that scales as fast as the operation does, and that is exactly what May Mobility delivers.
“CaoCao has set an ambitious goal of deploying 100,000 robotaxis by 2030, and we are excited to work together to help realize this vision.”
May Mobility will provide the autonomous driving element through its autonomy-as-a-service platform.
The company said its in-situ autonomous driving system is built to adjust to unfamiliar road conditions and support entry into new international markets.
The tie-up is aligned with CaoCao’s RoboX strategy, introduced earlier this month, which the company has described as a shift from being a mobility services platform to a physical AI mobility technology platform.
May Mobility, which already runs autonomous mobility services in the US and Japan, has developed its own autonomy architecture combining deep learning, world models and real-time reasoning to handle complex traffic environments.
The partnership brings together CaoCao’s mobility operations capabilities and May Mobility’s autonomous driving technology.
CaoCao said: “Through our collaboration with May Mobility, we aim to combine our strengths in operations with their leadership in autonomous driving technology to accelerate validation and deployment across different markets, and to explore a sustainable global commercialisation pathway.”
