Didi Autonomous Driving CTO Outlines AI and Robotaxi Commercialization Strategy

At the inaugural robotics industry summit held by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Chief Technology Officer of Didi Autonomous Driving, Sheng Kehua, delivered a keynote address. He joined academic and industry leaders to discuss the implementation of cutting-edge technologies and collaborative development between industry, academia, and research.

In his presentation, Sheng Kehua drew upon a decade of Didi Autonomous Driving's research and development experience. He systematically outlined the practical pathway for the industrial-scale deployment of Robotaxis, covering four key dimensions: vehicle product evolution, the core AI Driver technology chain, productized safety mechanisms, and operational frameworks. He also shared industry insights on the forefront of AI technology development.

Sheng Kehua stated that Robotaxi represents the first major application scenario for physical-world AI, requiring technological innovation to solve a wide array of complex, long-tail problems. DiDi Global Inc. (DIDIY) Autonomous Driving has developed a proprietary hybrid technical architecture. Building upon the mainstream perception-prediction-planning framework, it employs reinforcement learning to enhance capabilities in handling complex, rare scenarios. It continuously elevates the intelligence ceiling through on-device large models, optimizing experience and efficiency within strict safety boundaries. Concurrently, the company is focusing on key research areas such as the integration of Vision-Language-Action models with world models, long-sequence scenario reasoning, and optimization of on-device inference efficiency, exploring viable paths for the emergence of intelligence in the physical world.

On the day of the summit, Didi formally joined the HKUST CKSRI "Corporate Partnership Program." The two parties will collaborate in areas including autonomous driving and embodied intelligence, focusing on joint talent development, tackling key technical challenges, and commercializing research outcomes. Moving forward, Didi Autonomous Driving will continue to engage with top-tier scientific research resources and high-quality talent, adhering to a responsible technological innovation philosophy to steadily advance the development of autonomous driving.