Cao Cao Mobility steps up, will the battle for Robotaxi change?

Zebra Consumer by Ren Jianxin

In just a decade, Robotaxi has evolved from a conceptual idea to a fiercely competitive explosion. A trillion-dollar blue ocean is emerging.

To secure a ticket to this trillion-dollar new track, players from all sides have jumped in, with tech companies, automakers, and ride-hailing platforms showcasing their strengths. The scene resembles a martial arts world with various schools, sparking a chaotic battle in the Robotaxi arena.

The competition in the Robotaxi market is a marathon, testing both explosive power and endurance. As the industry reaches its midpoint, the difficulty suddenly escalated, with competition shifting from a single dimension to all-encompassing factors. Only those who master autonomous driving technology, smart custom vehicles, and intelligent operation systems simultaneously stand a chance to reach the "Summit of Light" in Robotaxi.

Trillion-Dollar Blue Ocean

Before heading to work in the morning, a simple tap on your phone summons a driverless car to your doorstep. By the time you finish breakfast and a cup of coffee, the autonomous vehicle safely delivers you to the office.

This sci-fi scenario, once seen in Hollywood movies, is now rapidly becoming reality with Robotaxi.

Over the past decade, global autonomous driving technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, attracting eager participation from players worldwide.

Google, a global tech giant, was a pioneer in this field. In 2009, Google began developing driverless cars, giving birth to the concept of Robotaxi.

A few years later, Cruise Automation was founded in San Francisco, focusing on the R&D and testing of autonomous driving technology. In 2016, General Motors acquired it, securing a ticket to the driverless future.

After 2016, Robotaxi accelerated rapidly. Companies like Uber, Baidu, and Google launched road tests for their driverless cars, while Waymo, Pony.ai, and WeRide were established. Thus, Robotaxi entered the fast lane of development, with leading companies deploying autonomous fleets for regular operations and more participants joining. CaoCao Mobility, the largest tech-driven mobility platform in Hong Kong stocks, recognized the trend and launched its autonomous driving platform, CaoCao Zhixing, in early 2025, quickly becoming a formidable force in the global Robotaxi market.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the global Robotaxi market is projected to reach RMB 834.9 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 239% from 2024 to 2030.

Robotaxi is an exponentially growing track and will be the largest new infrastructure and AI commercialization scenario in the next decade. Only by diving in can one hope to secure a ticket to this trillion-dollar blue ocean.

Battle of Titans

Currently, the Robotaxi market is a battlefield of titans, with three major forces—tech companies, automakers, and ride-hailing platforms—leveraging their strengths based on their capabilities and resources. Different "martial arts schools" have ignited a chaotic war in the Robotaxi arena.

Tech companies were the earliest participants in the Robotaxi market, focusing on autonomous driving R&D and data accumulation. With a light-asset model, they establish themselves through soft power, much like the Emei Sect in Jin Yong's novels, relying on agile swordsmanship and palm techniques to overcome brute force.

However, for hardware like vehicles, tech companies must collaborate with mainstream automakers. For example, Baidu's Apollo Go partnered with Jiangling, WeRide with Nissan, and Pony.ai with BAIC, GAC, and Toyota. For operations, they rely on major ride-hailing platforms.

Automakers, with their deep automotive industry roots, control the core hardware of Robotaxi, embodying raw strength. They resemble the Shaolin Sect in martial arts—rooted in tradition, with straightforward yet powerful techniques. As the source of martial arts, automakers are the foundation of the Robotaxi industry.

Ride-hailing platforms emphasize their platform advantages and fleet management, seamlessly integrating resources. They are like the Wudang Sect—graceful, internal-force-focused. Since L4 autonomous Robotaxis face near-infinite edge cases, their technological maturity depends on large-scale real-world testing. Thus, Robotaxi's full commercialization will likely debut in the ride-hailing industry, meaning leading platforms are best positioned to reap the benefits and potentially reshape the sector.

Who Will Reach the Summit?

Currently, Google's Waymo and Baidu's Apollo Go lead the Robotaxi market due to their head start. But in this long race, they've only just begun, far from the finish line. In the early days, a single technology could secure a foothold, but today's competition extends beyond algorithms or hardware to encompass smart custom vehicles, autonomous driving tech, and intelligent operation platforms.

CaoCao Mobility's Robotaxi, like Zhang Wuji in *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, combines the best of all worlds, mastering unique skills and forging its own path. Backed by Geely's tech, CaoCao has fully integrated "smart custom vehicles + autonomous driving tech + intelligent operations." Autonomous tech determines feasibility, custom vehicles define foundational capabilities, and platform efficiency ensures commercial success.

Robotaxi is a capital-intensive industry, with hardware like vehicles accounting for over 40% of operational costs. Scaling up will require massive funding. Meanwhile, in the foreseeable future, ride-hailing will operate both manned and driverless services, testing platform management with complex dispatching, personnel, and maintenance. A robust intelligent operation system is key to large-scale commercialization.

Among shared mobility platforms, CaoCao operates the largest custom fleet. As of June 30, 2025, it runs over 37,000 custom vehicles across 31 cities in China. A decade in shared mobility has equipped CaoCao with vast travel data, mature algorithms, and a nationwide service network—solid support for Robotaxi commercialization.

On December 3, CaoCao unveiled its Robotaxi strategy upgrade, announcing a "Decade, 100 Cities, RMB 100 Billion" global goal: five operation centers worldwide in ten years, Robotaxi services in 100 cities, and cumulative GTV of RMB 100 billion. It also debuted the "Green Smart Mobility Island," a futuristic urban hub integrating battery swaps, cleaning, scheduling, and payments—laying the groundwork for future urban mobility. CaoCao's Robotaxi ecosystem is unfolding a "Sky-Ground Integration" blueprint.

Indeed, sci-fi's driverless future is here. Who will truly conquer Robotaxi's "Summit of Light"? The tech pioneers or the ecosystem integrators? The answer lies in each iteration and operation, awaiting the final verdict of time and market.

When Robotaxi's steering wheel vanishes, the restructuring of a century-old transportation order will transcend technology, reshaping urban mobility into a new AI frontier. Facing unprecedented change, CaoCao's Zhang Wuji-like "embracing all strengths" offers a remedy—harmonizing revolutionary tech into a warm, universal prologue.