Month: September 2025

As founder of $5 billion self-driving taxi firm Pony.ai, James Peng is a leader of the autonomous driving revolution. Formed in Silicon Valley in 2016, Pony.ai initially concentrated on Peng’s home market of China, but has since expanded across Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. Pony.ai is currently transitioning from honing its AI-powered technology to large-scale deployment, targeting 2025 as its “mass production year,” with aims to build a fleet exceeding 1,000 vehicles by the year’s end. In May, the firm inked a strategic partnership to offer its driverless taxis via Uber in the Middle East, with a goal of scaling deployments via the app to additional international markets in the future. 

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A Stanford graduate who cut his teeth at Google and Baidu, Peng is bullish about Pony.ai’s position in a crowded marketplace because of the Chinese government’s fulsome backing of the technology. As of August 2024, Chinese public security authorities had issued 16,000 test licenses for autonomous vehicles and 20,000 miles of roads had been opened for testing. 

“Strategically, we definitely have the ambition to go global,” says Peng, who is included on this year’s TIME100 AI list. “Because mobility needs are everywhere. Using technology to have a positive societal impact should be our ambition.”

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

You recently unveiled your seventh generation robot taxi at the Shanghai motor show. What upgrades and advantages does that bring?

It has a lot of the advantages over the last generation, but I think the most prominent ones are all the sensors, and the computer systems will be all autonomous, meaning they will have much higher quality and last longer. And, for example, the LIDARs we use actually are already widely used for the [Level 2] systems, so we can share the supply chain and the ecosystem. As they are widely used components, the cost drops significantly. I think compared with last generation, the overall cost dropped 70%.

Why are you taking your time to scale up the business?

One of the primary reasons that we have not scaled up aggressively yet was  because the existing model still lost money. The newer generation, according to our predictions, will have a positive contribution margin, meaning that the life cycle of the vehicle should have positive raw margin. That means when we add a vehicle at least it’s not losing money. That’s one of the primary criteria that we use for large scale-up. I see we do think that in this newer generation, we should be able to achieve this.

Pony.ai was founded in Silicon Valley but your focus has been on expanding in cities in China. What’s the rationale behind that decision?

One of the primary reasons is because the China market itself, in terms of mobility, is already the number one globally. For ride-hailing including taxis, I believe China’s daily rides are almost 40% of the global total. Another partial reason is because of my heritage, so I want to contribute to China.

What other markets are you looking to expand into next?

We actually already have some efforts in South Korea, Singapore; we just last year established a presence in Luxembourg, thanks to the support of the local government. And we’re looking at the Middle East as well.

How does the regulatory framework differ in China and the U.S.? Is it easier to get official approval to test and roll out in China?

Each country definitely has pros and cons. It has a lot to do with the customs and the legal systems. In most Eastern countries, and probably even in Europe a bit, regulation is more comprehensive. It’s step by step. So on a high level, it’s much harder to get a license to do anything, including autonomous driving. But the good thing is that once you have the license, the government has more leeway to support you. In the U.S., it’s easy to get a license. But if you’re ever in an accident and it’s your fault, they will heavily penalize you. In China, it’s a lengthier process but in a way government and private firms work more hand in hand.

If you’re going to be rolling out thousands of robotaxis, there will eventually be some accidents. How should legal responsibility be handled if a robotaxi is involved in a fatal collision?

First and foremost, it currently uses the existing regulatory framework, meaning that whoever is at fault is still judged by the existing transportation law. In terms of who’s responsible, it’s actually the owner of the vehicle as the first line of response. Because in some cases, we work with our partner who acquired the vehicle. But of course, afterwards, you can go deeper to say, ‘which party is one who’s responsible?’ But our design principle has always been trying to avoid accidents as much as possible. And if an accident is unavoidable, we actually have different ways to try to lower the severity of accidents.

What makes your proprietary AI system unique?

First, we have sensors that cover 360 degrees, we have no blind spots. That’s much better than the human [field of view], which is roughly 120 degrees. Another thing is we use extensive training to really make the AI driver, or the virtual driver, a lot better.

When a human driver has a near miss, or gets in a difficult situation, they experience it once and get out of it. For us, once we collect the data, we can generate hundreds or thousands of permutations—maybe I can add another vehicle coming the other way, and put our vehicle in slightly different difficult situations and train it many, many times. So a lot of what-if scenarios can be played in the large scale simulation—like a game engine where we play different combinations. So that’s a much better way compared with a human driver, who can only do it once. We do it probably billions of times. So that’s how it can learn driving behavior much quicker than typical humans.

Obviously, AI is a massive topic in China at the moment, with the success of DeepSeek sending markets soaring. What is your assessment of the AI boom in China at the moment? Is it a real thing or a bit overblown?

I think a bit of both. OK, it’s definitely real. It’s here in the economy. It is evolving very fast, probably faster than we even expected several years ago. But at the same time, the overall state of the real intelligence is still very nascent. Because like any revolutionary technology—even the Internet, even the mobile revolution—it takes some time to mature. What you have seen, even DeepSeek, is still more or less a potential foundation model. You can see a lot of potential, but it takes time to be realized and to really revolutionize our daily life.

Your company was founded in the U.S. but your focus is on China. How are the current trade and technology tensions between the two countries affecting your business?

It definitely has some [effects]. First and foremost, we can’t change anything, so we have to cope with the existing environment. We are trying to minimize the influence as much as possible. For example, we have to conform to the law. That means we will not transfer any data between our China office and the U.S. offices. We have to abide by all regulations. But the good news is we have been developing for many years already. The technology has started maturing, so we can almost feel like China and the U.S. can operate autonomously, and we can pursue different markets respectively.

Does the U.S. blocking China’s access to high-end chips such as those produced by Nvidia affect you?

We don’t use those high-end data center types of chips like [Nvidia’s] H100. Rather within the vehicle, we use the autonomous grade chips, which are already widely used and not on the sanction list. On our training side, we use some old generation chips and we use software optimization to compensate for the hardware limitation. So we’re not being affected that much.

You were born in China and studied at Tsinghua and then Stanford and then worked in Silicon Valley. But it seems like the new generation of Chinese tech entrepreneurs are more locally trained. Most of the developers at DeepSeek have only studied in China. Are you worried that there’s not so much collaboration between China and Silicon Valley?

Personally, I feel like I’m a beneficiary of that collaboration and open communication. Open dialog can broaden horizons for a lot of people. So definitely, I’m all for openness, communication and collaboration. But it’s also a testament not only to the technology itself, but also for the talent training itself that China has already gone a long way catching up actually quite fast. Because I think China has a lot of raw talent, what it was lacking was this comprehensive ecosystem. But I think even on that front China is catching up a bit.

Today, a lot of big companies—Softbank, Alibaba, etc—are plowing hundreds of billions of dollars into achieving artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Do you believe AGI is on the horizon?

It has a lot to do with your definition of AGI. If the AGI is defined as passing the Turing Test, where you cannot tell the difference between a human and AI bot, that’s definitely an achievable goal. We’ll probably be able to see [that] in five to 10 years. But if you’re talking about AGI as more like the Terminator, so self-aware, where it’s super intelligent, that’s probably still going to be far away.

So when’s Judgment Day coming?

Probably not for a decade or two!

• This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter.
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Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. This week, Amazon settled with the FTC for $2.5 billion following an exclusive Business Insider investigation into the e-commerce company’s misleading Prime sign-up and cancellation tactics.

Also, BI’s new markets newsletter is coming to inboxes soon. Sign up for First Trade here!

On the agenda today:

• The perils and promises of having a work nemesis.
• Startup founders are on edge as they brace for more H-1B visa fee chaos.
• Starbucks is getting the Chipotle treatment.
• Inside the rise of LinkedIn job-recruitment scams.

But first: Where do you store all of those groceries?

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider’s app here.

This week’s dispatch

The Costco craze

I’ve got a confession: I don’t get what all the fuss is about Costco.

Gigantic bags of potato chips, enough ketchup to last until the end of the decade, endless rolls of toilet paper (well, maybe post-COVID I get that one).

But seriously, why does anyone need a 20-pound tub of margarine?

A colleague (who may or may not be the lead weekday writer of this newsletter) wants to buy a second refrigerator for his garage just so he can store even more stuff from Costco.

“The biggest pain point in my marriage is probably Costco,” BI’s Dan DeFrancesco told me. “Before every trip, my wife warns me not to get carried away. And then I proceed to get carried away and buy 18 pounds of chicken breasts.”

Look, I get it. Buying in bulk is very much en vogue these days. Just look at Costco’s earnings report the other day.

Sales and profit are up. Total paid memberships are rising. More people are finding the experience so compelling that they’re upgrading their memberships.

Costco CEO Ron Vachris said opening early for executive members boosted weekly sales by 1%. Foot traffic data from Placer.ai indicates the adjusted hours are helping the company accomplish several key goals, namely getting shoppers to visit more quickly and more often.

Costco is also set to open new locations faster than usual, particularly in areas with popular stores. The goal is to relieve some of the traffic pressure in those locations, creating a better shopping experience.

People talk about Costco the way some talk about religion. It’s an experience, a pilgrimage if you will, for hot deals and free samples. You can get everything from ever-pricey gold bars to the ultimate inflation-proof offering: the vaunted $1.50 hot dog and soda combo.

Maybe I’m just a city snob who doesn’t get all the finer things in life that Costco has to offer.

I’ll stick with Trader Joe’s and my corner bodega.

What are your thoughts on Costco and the early hours for executive members? We’d love to hear from you. Please email me at srussolillo@insider.com.

Know thine enemy

Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. Taylor Swift and Kanye West. Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Having a workplace enemy isn’t always the most pleasant experience, but battling them can actually push you to grow and further your career.

That’s because a work nemesis is often a competitor for a boss’ praise or promotion. Competition can be a driver of peak performance — as long as it stays healthy.

Who’s your office opp?

H-1B whiplash

Startup founders and their employees were thrown into a frenzy after President Donald Trump announced his new $100,000 H-1B visa fee. Some young companies have frozen hiring as they wait for more clarity.

While the Big Tech companies are by far the largest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program, the proposed changes will have an outsized impact on smaller startups, according to 10 founders and investors BI spoke with.

“Is there another shoe about to drop?“

Also read:

• Silicon Valley’s case for Trump’s new $100,000 H-1B visa fee
• Trump’s $100,000 visa fee threatens Wall Street’s pipeline of junior bankers and tech talent

The Chipotle playbook

The company recently announced another round of corporate layoffs and an array of store closures across North America. It’s part of CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” initiative, and takes a page out of his Chipotle turnaround strategy.

At Chipotle, Niccol revitalized the chain’s brand after a 2015 E. coli scandal. The coffee giant is a much bigger beast, though — and his efforts haven’t paid off yet.

A huge undertaking.

Also read:

• Starbucks is closing its iconic Capitol Hill Roastery, just minutes from its Seattle headquarters

Hell for job seekers, heaven for scammers

While an exceptionally tight job market has made job seekers increasingly desperate, the rise of cheap generative AI tools has allowed scammers to get more sophisticated.

Scammers are deceiving even well-educated job seekers of any age by using LinkedIn as a launchpad for their crimes. Two people who lost thousands of dollars to these scams shared their stories with BI.

An #OpenToWork nightmare.

This week’s quote:

“My friends say my homes look like serial killer homes. I like it to look like nobody lives there ever. I need you to walk into my house and be like, ‘Is this a staged home?’“

— Nectir cofounder Kavitta Ghai on how she likes her apartment to be set up.

The Netherlands is the second-biggest agricultural exporter

The country is only the size of Maryland, but its research hub, Wageningen University and Research, has created a global model for farming. Here’s how the Dutch are adjusting to a swath of crises plaguing the industry.

More of this week’s top reads:

• Leaked Meta guidelines show how it trains AI chatbots to respond to child sexual exploitation prompts.
• Why that $14 billion TikTok deal may not be what it seems.
• Exclusive: Amazon’s AI coding assistant Q lags rivals in revenue, internal data shows.
• Jimmy Kimmel showed the one line Corporate America can’t cross.
• Why one retail investing platform is betting on physical storefronts for traders.
• J&J survived the “Tylenol murders” and pioneered crisis communications. Trump’s autism claims are round two.
• Nvidia is investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI as part of an AI data center deal.
• “Hybrid creep” is spreading as more companies tighten RTO rules.
• Exclusive: Klarna chairman sent a stark post-IPO message to CEO: “We’re 10 years behind Revolut.”

• I went from MTV star to managing fortunes at Bank of America. It took hustle and a lowly internship to get here.

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  The BI Today team: Steve Russolillo, chief news editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

• My husband and I both work jobs with non-traditional schedules and early call times.
• My mother and in-laws live nearby, and it’s their support that makes our lives work so seamlessly.
• I know it’s a privilege to have community like this, and I’m so grateful.

I used to think “rich” referred to families that traveled frequently, drove new cars every year, had the freshest sneaker collection (I’m a Chicago south sider, so this one was a big deal), and purchased the name-brand cereal at the grocery store. But in my house, “rich” means something a little different. It’s the privilege of having my daughter’s grandparents show up for her every moment we need them, even if that means 4 a.m.

As a morning show contributor on the nationally syndicated “The Fred Show,” founder and CEO of the Mami Collective (a community for modern moms reclaiming identity, income, and wellness), and new mom to a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, early wake-up calls are not out of the norm for me.

My alarm goes off at 4 a.m., and my husband’s alarm goes off not long after. He’s a Chicago firefighter who works 24-hour shifts, so you can only imagine how tired we both are in the mornings. And none of this would be possible without our daughter’s grandparents.

Help from family makes it all possible

I know what a privilege it is to have a village in 2025. My mother and in-laws live just six minutes away from my husband and me. My sister-in-law also steps in tremendously, and I simply cannot thank her enough. Our nontraditional jobs mean that on top of the early-morning wake-up calls, sometimes, we need help with more than just what was originally on the schedule for the day.

I’m notorious for the last-minute media obligations that come with doing radio, as well as putting out daily fires for the team with The Mami Collective. For many families, dealing with situations like these would mean scrambling for sitters at the last minute, making special accommodations, or even having to cancel, but for us, it’s one simple text message to the grandparents.

Within 15-30 minutes, they’re there and ready to step in. They do the morning routine with our daughter, feed her breakfast, and take her to the park or for long walks. They’re also there helping put her down for a nap or bedtime on those nights when I’m out speaking at an event that same evening. My mom and my husband’s parents split the tasks so effortlessly, and they never make it seem like an inconvenience. To say we’re blessed would be an understatement.

I wasn’t raised with either side of my grandparents present, so seeing my daughter have this opportunity truly heals something in me. My daughter isn’t “watched” while my husband and I are working; she’s played with, cared for, and loved on a level that can’t be described. She’s growing up with her grandparents by her side and who want to be a part of her life. And the truth is, you can’t buy that kind of love.

I know our situation is rare, and I’m thankful we have support

Having help from family and a community to raise children is not new by any means, and now I get what it means when they say, “It takes a village.” But it’s also common to move away from where you grew up for school or work, and fewer people seem to be raising families with the kind of support we have.

I’ve fully realized how rare and special our situation is. Do I get sad when I’m not there in the morning to have breakfast with her? Of course I do. Do I thank my lucky stars for having her grandparents experience those memories with her in my place? You bet I do.

Our daughter is not only growing up with two fully present parents who are doing their best every single day, but she gets to grow up with her babcia (meaning grandma in Polish) and her abuelos (grandparents in Spanish), who are all within a one-mile radius of her. This has given me stability, happiness, and the opportunity for growth in my career.

So yes, my daughter is one lucky baby. She is “rich” because of who shows up for her daily.

Moscow – Russia launched a significant overnight attack on Ukraine, targeting military installations, which resulted in four civilian fatalities, including a 12-year-old girl, along with several others injured, reports 24brussels.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed that the offensive involved “hundreds” of drones and missiles and primarily hit Kyiv and surrounding regions including Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa. This coordinated strike has left at least ten individuals wounded as well.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the assault, describing it as a “vile” act. He noted that approximately 500 drones and 40 missiles were utilized during the attack. “Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping,” stated Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, emphasizing the toll on residential areas and civilian safety.

Damage reports indicated that critical civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings and industrial sites such as a rubber factory, were heavily impacted. An air raid alert was issued in the Kyiv region in response to the ongoing threats.

How did Zelensky describe the scale of Russian strikes?

Zelensky detailed the severe impact of the attacks, noting that they specifically targeted urban areas. He remarked on the extensive damage inflicted upon civilian infrastructure during the bombing raids.

Why did Poland scramble fighter jets after Russian strikes?

The attack prompted immediate military responses from neighbouring Poland, which scrambled fighter jets early Sunday morning as part of defensive measures. This action was taken to secure Polish airspace in light of the threats posed by the strikes in western Ukraine. Poland’s military activated ground-based air defence systems to protect its citizens, particularly in regions bordering Ukraine.

This latest escalation underscores ongoing tensions in the region as Ukraine continues to defend its sovereignty against external aggression while seeking support from allies. Furthermore, the implications of such attacks on regional security and international relations remain significant.

• Racquel Oden has worked in global banking for over two decades.
• Some of the advice she gives family and friends is to focus on retirement as soon as possible.
• She also says to prioritize investments over student loan debt and CDs over regular savings accounts.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Racquel Oden, US head of wealth and private banking at HSBC. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’ve worked in global banking for HSBC, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merril Lynch, and many more. Over the years, I’ve given my clients plenty of advice on saving, budgeting, investing, retirement, and financial planning.

When it comes to my family and friends, the most important financial advice I give them is to start putting away money as soon as possible.

You’re never too young to start saving or investing — and there are many things that even Generation Z could be doing now to help themselves reach their financial goals, whether that’s saving up for a down payment for a house, a dream trip abroad, a lavish wedding, or even an early retirement.

If you’re working, you should be focused on retirement and your personal savings

I know it sounds far away, but you should always be saving for retirement by paying into your 401(k).

Simultaneously, you should also be getting to the point where you have enough in your personal savings account to support your living expenses for the next six months in case you happen to lose your job for whatever reason. This money is what I call short-term cash on hand, what you can use to pay your basic needs — things like your apartment rent, car payments, grocery bills, etc.

You’re ready to invest once you have more than short-term cash on hand

I think for a lot of young investors, they’re unsure of when to start investing. We often think, “I need to have all this money to invest.”

I want to take that stigma away. Any amount of money will work better for you in money markets than in a savings account, which doesn’t provide much or any interest. Once you have more than short-term cash on hand, you can create another account in preparation for investing.

Create a financial plan with the help of a financial advisor

What’s great about sitting down with a financial advisor is that most banks do not initially charge for this service.

Making a plan is a point of entry into investing, and it’s a comfortable one because you get to sit down and ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve with my finances? Do I want to buy a home, plan a wedding, or take that next big trip?” With this plan, you can think beyond just retirement.

I encourage people to think of their lives in terms of different buckets — for example, saving for a house can be one bucket. Each of these buckets or larger financial goals has a different time horizon. Creating a larger financial plan can help you understand the timeframes for each goal better and remove some of the anxiety around investing.

Always seek out accurate financial resources and screen out the non-factual ones

We like watching TikTok and surfing Instagram, but do yourself a favor and ground yourself with the basics before you look through those places.

Reach out to traditional resources, like financial advisors at your bank. You can follow social influencers for some things, but not for something as crucial as your finances. Become comfortable with the traditional sources of this info, like banks — it doesn’t mean you ultimately have to pick them or choose their services.

You can shop around and find the right financial advisor for you.

Make your money work for you

Checking and savings accounts are the lowest interest-bearing accounts out there, right now. Short-term vehicles like CDs, or Certificate of Deposit, a type of savings account that earns a fixed interest rate, can be better options than a regular savings account.

CDs can be a great option, allowing you to make a short investment of, say, nine months or so and earn an interest of 4% in some cases. But you must remember these interest rates are always changing, so stay on top of them.

Prioritize investing and savings over paying off your student loan debt

I encourage clients to, of course, pay their minimum monthly payment that’s due. But the concept of paying off student loan debt should not be something you’re concerned about because having cash on hand — and making sure your cash is working for you — is the smarter way.

However, if your cash is just sitting in checking accounts, not collecting interest, then pay off the student loan because, in this case, your money is not working for you. You are not gaining any yield on your cash sitting in a checking account. However, lowering debt does bring up your credit score, so this is also something to think about.

Do you have a story to share about financial planning? If so, please reach out to the editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@businessinsider.com.