Chinese robotaxi stocks rise as Tesla boosts sentiment

Investing.com-- Chinese robotaxi stocks WeRide (HK:0800) and Pony AI (HK:2026) rose in Hong Kong trade on Wednesday, tracking overnight gains in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) amid increasing optimism towards autonomous driving and ride hailing.

WeRide rose 3%, while Pony AI traded up 5.5% after similar overnight gains in their U.S. listings. This came tracking a 3% rise in Tesla, with the electric vehicle maker hitting a record closing high.

Tesla surged after CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the company was testing its robotaxis without a human safety monitor. Musk has largely touted robotaxis and self-driving as one of the next big growth levers for Tesla, although the company’s robotaxi programs are still in a largely nascent stage.

By comparison, Pony AI and We Ride, along with Baidu’s Apollo Go and Google’s Waymo, are among the largest established robotaxi operators in the world. The three have operations across multiple cities– Waymo principally in the U.S.-- while the Chinese players have expanded into the Middle East and other parts of Asia.

But Tesla holds an edge with the possibility that it could convert all of its current models into robotaxis with a software update. Musk has repeatedly touted such a possibility, although the company is still testing its driverless software.

Tesla has also faced several regulatory challenges over its self-driving software.

Sentiment towards robotaxis was buoyed by a Bank of America report last week that driverless ride-hailing represents an over $1 trillion opportunity in the U.S. market.

Separately, a report said Waymo was seeking to raise $15 billion at a $100 billion valuation, a major milestone for the robotaxi operator.

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