With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.
Lei Jun: Xiaomi Humanoid Robots Begin Internships at Auto Factory
Who:
• Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi.
When:
• Announcement made on March 2.
What:
• Announced the latest progress of Xiaomi's robotics development.
• Xiaomi's humanoid robots have begun "internships" at the company's automotive factory.
Operational Capabilities Achieved:
• The humanoid robot has preliminarily achieved autonomous operation in:
▪ Self-tapping nut loading workstations
▪ Material box handling scenarios
• Key performance indicators, including:
▪ Mean time between failures (MTBF)
▪ Single-task success rate are steadily improving.
• Deployment and validation around additional typical workstations are ongoing.
Future Outlook:
• Xiaomi will continue contributing to the large-scale application of general-purpose humanoid robots in intelligent manufacturing.
• Lei Jun estimates that within the next five years, a large number of humanoid robots will enter Xiaomi factories for work.
Pony.ai Gen-7 Robotaxi Achieves Monthly Per-Vehicle Profitability in Shenzhen
Who:
• Pony.ai.
What:
• The company announced that its seventh-generation Robotaxi achieved monthly per-vehicle operating profitability in Shenzhen in February 2026.
Previous Milestone:
• After reaching the same milestone in Guangzhou in November 2025, Pony.ai has now achieved this breakthrough in two Tier-1 Chinese cities.
Operational Performance (Shenzhen):
• As of February 28:
▪ Average daily net revenue per vehicle: 338 yuan
▪ Average daily orders per vehicle: 23
• Growth driven by increasing user demand and continuous operational efficiency optimization.
Operational Expansion in Shenzhen:
• Initial operating area: 21.7 square kilometers.
• Expanded to 167.4 square kilometers by December 2025.
• In March 2025, Pony.ai officially launched commercial Robotaxi operations in Shenzhen.
• Became the first company to obtain a fully driverless Robotaxi commercial operation permit in Nanshan District, Shenzhen city.
• Gradually expanded services to core areas of both Nanshan and Bao'an districts.
User Growth:
• As of February 16, 2026, the number of paid Robotaxi orders in Shenzhen since the beginning of the year exceeded the total for the full year of 2025.
Significance:
• Marks substantive progress in Robotaxi commercialization and further strengthens the foundation for scaled operations.
DiDi Autonomous Driving Establishes "DiDi Voyager Labs"
Who:
• DiDi Autonomous Driving.
What:
• Established "DiDi Voyager Labs".
• Entered into a special in-depth industry–academia–research cooperation with Professor Li Shengbo's research group at Tsinghua University.
Research Focus Areas:
• Multimodal large models
• World models
• Reinforcement learning
• Aiming to advance breakthroughs and industrial implementation of multimodal end-to-end autonomous driving technologies.
Operating Model:
• "Physical operation + shared resources + joint R&D" model.
• Conducts frontier technological research under a unified technical roadmap and engineering system.
• Seeks to create a new industry–academia–research paradigm integrating "research–engineering–commercialization."
Objectives:
• Jointly cultivate high-end interdisciplinary AI talent.
• Drive original technology development based on industrial demand.
• Accelerate commercialization and practical application of research outcomes.
