With hundreds of millions of daily active users, this mobility platform is set to become a new wildcard in autonomous-driving operations.
On November 4, Chinese media reported that AutoNavi (Amap) will officially enter the Robotaxi arena, with an imminent announcement targeting global market expansion.
Insiders said the company treats the move as a strategic-level initiative that is expected to become a major growth engine for AutoNavi.
The step turns the travel platform, already boasting hundreds of millions of daily active users, into a new variable in autonomous-driving operations.
In fact, AutoNavi’s connection with Robotaxi goes back several years.
In April 2025 the firm teamed up with AutoX in Shanghai, letting riders open the Amap app, search “driverless car” and register for a trial. After hailing, vehicles can stop flexibly near the pick-up point instead of at fixed stations; the first batch of 30 L4 cars covered the Jiading Auto City area.
At the same time, Huangpu District in Guangzhou deployed 20 Robotaxis supplied by Pony.ai and WeRide, also reachable through the Amap ride-hailing portal without switching apps.
These early pilots have given AutoNavi operational experience and user mind-share.
China’s Robotaxi market now features a diversified competitive landscape.
Baidu’s “Apollo Go” has made notable global progress: as of 31 October 2025 it operates in 22 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, handling more than 250,000 fully driverless orders every week.
Pony.ai has set up a joint venture with Toyota and GAC, put its seventh-generation Robotaxi into mass production and averages 15 daily orders per car. The company expects its fleet to top 1,000 vehicles by year-end and has simultaneously launched overseas operations in Dubai.
After receiving strategic investment from Bosch, WeRide’s One platform has landed in cities such as Beijing, Ordos and Guangzhou, covering high-frequency venues like airports and high-speed-rail hubs.
By contrast, although AutoNavi started slightly later, it owns a natural traffic gateway plus high-definition map data, enabling it to close the “vehicle-road-cloud-map” loop quickly.
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