Six major carmakers signed up to Momenta technology

Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta announced on Thursday it had reached strategic cooperation deals with six major auto brands, primarily overseas ones, during Auto Shanghai.

The auto brands are SAIC GM's Buick and Cadillac, FAW Toyota, Honda China, SAIC Audi, and SAIC's premium marque IM Motor.

The first model featuring Momenta's technology came out in 2022. The number of such models reached eight in 2023, 26 in 2024, and now exceeds 130.

The delivery of such vehicles has also grown fast with the first 100,000 after two years, the second 100,000 units taking only six months, and the number is expected to reach 300,000 units by May.

CEO Cao Xudong said Momenta's innovative Flywheel large language model for assisted driving, with its deep learning planning and decision-making abilities, along with mass-produced imitation learning, has been a crucial factor in its selection by global brands.

In the second half of this year, Momenta will launch the Momenta Flywheel R6 based on reinforcement learning.

It can explore new driving behaviors in simulated environments, learn from its experiences and rapidly grow.

Also, Momenta is set to launch a mass-produced robotaxi this year, which can reduce vehicle costs by reusing mass-produced sensors and computing units.

Its first batch of driverless robotaxis is expected to start trial operations by the end of 2025, said the company.