Smart driving AI firm DeepRoute.ai has raised US$100 million from a major Chinese automotive OEM. The funding will advance development of its frontier end-to-end model DeepRoute IO, help scale global automakers’ collaboration and explore future Robotaxi business, and support the recruitment of more AI-native talents.

Since August, approximately 20,000 vehicles integrated with DeepRoute IO have been delivered to customers. The company plans to release more than 10 additional series models in collaboration with selective OEM clients next year and develop its DeepRoute IO model, employing visual-language-action model, set to launch next year.

“The strategic investment from the automaker is a significant recognition for our technology maturity and mass production capabilities. We are eager to leverage this momentum to expand our reach in global markets.” Maxwell Zhou, CEO at DeepRoute.ai said “I firmly believe autonomous driving is the most promising pathway to achieving physical AI and we will be a major player in the next AI era. We look forward to cooperating with more partners on this journey.”

As current human-supervised smart driving cars continue to gather data, DeepRoute IO will continue to iterate towards achieving full autonomy capability without human oversight. This will enable the company to explore unsupervised Robotaxis business in the future through partnerships with mobility platforms. Unlike traditional Robotaxis, which rely on pre-mapped data and restricted to specific areas, DeepRoute.ai’s Robotaxi will be more scalable and more cost-effective to deploy thanks to its end-to-end technology. This will allow people in various countries to enjoy the convenience of the latest smart driving technology.

Founded in 2019, DeepRoute.ai initiated research and development of mapfree technology in 2020. This debuted in 2023 in China, enabling vehicles to navigate from address to address on urban and highway without high-definition maps. DeepRoute.ai began road testing its end-to-end model last August and officially deployed it in mass-produced cars this year.