The autonomous driving industry is witnessing intense competition, with companies now engaging in public disputes. Recently, a roadshow presentation by Pony AI for Hong Kong investors has sparked a heated exchange involving WeRide and Baidu.
WeRide CFO Li Xuan openly criticized Pony AI in an analyst group, accusing the latter of falsifying data in its roadshow materials. Li refuted Pony AI's claims across multiple dimensions, including operational metrics, technological capabilities, and global presence.
On operational regions, Li dismissed Pony AI's assertion that "WeRide operates only in Beijing," calling it a blatant deception of investors. Regarding operational data, she highlighted WeRide's fleet of 700+ robotaxis, over 2,200 days of public operations, and commercial deployments in cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, and the Middle East—all verifiable in its prospectus. She labeled Pony AI's claim of "zero completed rides" as baseless fabrication.
Technologically, Li questioned Pony AI's claim of achieving full L4 end-to-end autonomy while dismissing WeRide as limited to a two-stage system, despite Pony AI lacking scalable L2+ projects. She emphasized, "WeRide's end-to-end mass production applications have been validated by Bosch and Chery. Pony AI's statements risk becoming a joke in the tech community."
Li further asserted that Pony AI's actions crossed ethical boundaries, with misleading and disparaging remarks in its roadshow. She demanded immediate corrections and reserved legal rights. Notably, Baidu also challenged Pony AI's claims, with its IR team stating, "While we previously ignored unfounded market slander, the escalation of falsehoods now compels us to defend our rights legally."
This isn't Li's first public critique of Pony AI. Earlier, she mocked Pony AI's accident record—including a U.S. license revocation and a Beijing curb collision that caused a fire—questioning its audacity to disparage competitors with larger fleets and broader deployments. She advised Pony AI to "actually deploy dozens of vehicles globally before claiming to be a 'global company.'"
The backdrop includes Pony AI CTO Lou Tiancheng's June remarks that only Waymo, Pony AI, and Baidu meet the standards for scalability and autonomy, with others lagging 2.5 years behind. Pony AI has yet to respond to the falsification allegations.
Financially, Pony AI reported revenues of RMB 489M (2022), 515M (2023), 538M (2024), and 100M (Q1 2025), with cumulative losses exceeding RMB 4.225B since 2022. WeRide posted revenues of RMB 526M (2022), 402M (2023), 361M (2024), and 72M (Q1 2025), with losses surpassing RMB 6.149B in the same period. Both firms struggle with profitability but match closely in total assets—WeRide at RMB 5.148B (2023) and 7.682B (2024) versus Pony AI’s $747M (~RMB 5.355B) and $1.051B (~RMB 7.5345B), respectively.