Shanghai (ZXZC)- Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC Group) today signs a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, to deploy in autonomous driving area.

According to the announcement GAC released this morning, both companies will collaborate on the development of autonomous driving solutions. Pony.ai will provide technical backing for GAC Group to boost the implementation of the automaker's autonomous driving projects. In addition, both companies will explore potential capital collaboration under mature conditions.

Meanwhile, they plans to co-build a demonstrating autonomous vehicle fleet, establish a demonstration zone of autonomous driving in Guangzhou and carry out autonomous vehicle tests.

Both parties will explore the operation modes of autonomous driving and sharing travelling as well as the potential to build mobile service platforms.

Pony.ai is a tech startup focusing on L4/L5 autonomous driving technologies with a vision to revolutionize the future of transportation by developing AI technologies. It received an autonomous vehicle testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles in June 2017. On January 29 this year, the startup announced that it had started China's first autonomous vehicle trial operation in Nansha District, Guangdong Province. Established in December 2016, the one-year old startup has not earned a profit yet.