DeepRoute raises $100M in push to beat Tesla’s FSD in China | TechCrunch

In Brief

DeepRoute.ai, a Shenzhen-based autonomous driving technology startup, raised $100 million from an unidentified Chinese automaker. The company aims to get its automated driving systems into as many vehicles in China before Tesla takes off next year, according to a Reuters report.

China lifted certain restrictions on Tesla vehicles in April, clearing a path for the automaker to launch its advanced driver assistance system called Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China. Tesla said in September it plans to roll out FSD in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025. 

Alibaba-backed DeepRoute is now racing to get its own ADAS into around 200,000 cars in China by the end of 2025, CEO Maxwell Zhou told Reuters. That’s a 10x increase from the 20,000 vehicles its tech is deployed in today. 

The first vehicle model with DeepRoute’s system, which has yet to be publicly disclosed, launched in August. Zhou said the tech will come to two more models, including one co-owned by Geely and Mercedes-Benz, this year.

DeepRoute charges automakers a technology licensing fee per car and collects data that it uses to train its AI to handle more complicated traffic situations.

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