The pilot—which will use Lexus RX cars and Pony.ai’s autonomous driving system—will begin in September on public roads in Beijing and Shanghai. (The Logic)

Talking point: Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a burgeoning industry in China—according to a McKinsey report, the country will have a US$500-billion AV market by 2030, the world’s largest. But they lag behind American competitors, both in terms of miles tested and how often a safety driver needs to take over—California-based Waymo was the first company to start testing vehicles without safety drivers in July. Teaming up with the world’s largest automaker by market cap will give Pony.ai—which raised US$300 million as of April and has a valuation of US$1.7 billion—access to Toyota’s vehicles. This may help it catch up to its American competitors, as well as its Beijing-based rival Baidu, which currently leads the country in terms of miles tested for autonomous vehicles. For Toyota, partnering with China’s leading AV startup is the second major deal it’s inked with a Chinese automotive tech firm in recent weeks—the company also invested US$600 million into Didi Chuxing, the Beijing-based ride-hailing company, in July.