AutoX after Waymo and Nuro now the 3rd company with completely driverless license

In addition to 66 companies with a Californian test license for autonomous cars, which still have to have safety drivers on board, AutoX has now received a license to operate completely driverless cars – i.e. without a safety driver or person on board – on public roads. This makes it the third company with this license, alongside Waymo and Nuro.

AutoX is therefore allowed to operate its test vehicles in “fair weather conditions” and light precipitation on roads at speeds not exceeding 45 miles per hour (72km/h). The test permit is valid for a limited area in San Jose, where the company is based. This license represents the next significant step in the development of autonomous cars.

AutoX, which recently launched a robotic taxi service in Shenzhen and Shanghai with fleets of up to 100 vehicles, was founded by former assistant professor of Princeton University, Xiao Jianxiong also known as Professor X. Professor X also serves as CEO of the company.

The new approval follows AutoX’s autonomous pilot project for food delivery in San José in August 2018, which was conducted in collaboration with GrubMarket.com and the local grocery store DeMartini Orchard. The company claims to be the first autonomous auto startup in China to use self-propelled vehicles capable of speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour (80km/h), and one of the first whose vehicles are connected to Shanghai’s 5G-based Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2X) technology, which enables them to communicate with the road infrastructure and traffic lights.

Here are pictures of some of the sighted AutoX vehicles over the last years.