Sponsored by Google Cloud Choosing Your First Generative AI Use Cases To get started with generative AI, first focus on areas that can improve human experiences with information. The ambitious plan comes as autonomous truck development lags behind that of autonomous cars. Self-driving tech vendor Pony.ai has revealed bold plans to scale its autonomous truck rollout. The company, based in Guangzhou, says it can deploy between 500 to 1,000 self-driving heavy-duty trucks in its home country over the next two to three years. However, the scale of Pony.ai’s ambitions for its light-duty trucks is significant, with 100,000 targeted to hit the road by 2030. As of November, last year, Pony.ai had a fleet of around 200 trucks. Heavy-duty robotrucks are expected to be used for long-haul freight in ports, on highways and in specialized bulk transportation in western China, while light-duty vehicles will generally operate in urban environments, traveling between retail stores, distribution centers and cold-chain refrigerated facilities. The company has been around for a decade, raising funds and developing automated technology for robotaxis and commercial vehicles, achieving early success with robotaxis in China before expanding into the Middle East and Europe. According to vice president He Xing, the painstaking development process has led to this point, with hardware costs having dropped significantly -- by about 70% in the latest generation of heavy-duty trucks -- and are no longer prohibitive. “We had been waiting for the right moment. Our truck technology had already reached a high level, but the cost of building an L4 Robotruck remained high,” he said in a statement. L4 is considered fully driverless in certain scenarios by the Society of Automotive Engineers. “The reduction in ADK [autonomous driving kit] costs benefited both heavy- and light-duty trucks,” Xing added. That is why we did not rush into