퓨처링크, 중국 로보택시 200대 도입 추진…국외 기술 의존도 커질까 우려도

FutureLink, a Seoul-based company that has been testing autonomous vehicle technology in the Nami district, is pushing for the domestic introduction of 200 Chinese-made RoboTaxis. Having accumulated 80,000 kilometers of driving data in Nami since January last year, the company aims to scale up operations 20-fold and enter the full-service phase.

While the expectation is that this will allow for a rapid domestic rollout of tried-and-tested foreign technology, concerns have been raised about the heavy reliance on foreign companies for core technologies. In response, FutureLink announced a strategic partnership with Pony.ai, a leading autonomous vehicle technology firm based in China, on January 28th.

The plan is to import 200 Gen-7 autonomous driving systems from Pony.ai's vehicles over the next year, followed by an additional 190 units within a year. Upon successful certification and pilot trials, FutureLink envisions having 200 RoboTaxis operating in Seoul by 2028. Once certified, the companies plan to establish a joint venture, with profit-sharing structures and equity details to be finalized based on the progress of the project.

Founded last November as a subsidiary of PonyLink, which went public on the KOSDAQ exchange, Pony.ai has been operating fully autonomous Level 4 RoboTaxis in China since 2016. With 1975 vehicles in operation as of mid-February this year, the company aims to expand its fleet to over 3,500 vehicles by the end of the year. The collaboration between the two companies began two years ago, with FutureLink's predecessor, Jinbaeksung, partnering with Pony.ai in 2024 for autonomous driving operations.

So far, pony.ai's technology has been tested in Seoul's Nami autonomous driving test zone, where it has logged a combined 80,739 kilometers of autonomous driving in complex urban environments, including busy intersections, construction zones, and narrow alleyways. The 7th-generation RoboTaxi, unlike the retrofit test vehicles that FutureLink has been using in Nami, will be designed from the ground up with autonomous features, with all necessary components assembled at the production line.

This approach allows for faster scaling of production and improved quality control compared to retrofit vehicles. The first vehicle to receive Pony.ai's 7th-generation autonomous driving system will be a BAIC ARCFOX Alpha T5, manufactured in Beijing. While there is currently limited commercial demand for autonomous taxis in Korea, the service is already underway in Seoul's Nam district with 19 vehicles providing ride-hailing services during nighttime hours.

Other domestic players, such as A2Z and AutoNoMoE, are also developing their own autonomous taxi solutions tailored to the Korean market, including ride-hailing, dispatch, and traffic management systems. FutureLink's CEO, Choi Doo-won, acknowledges these concerns about increasing dependence on foreign technology and reassures that the partnership will allow for the creation of a market and further development of domestic capabilities.

Meanwhile, Pony.ai's CEO, James Fung, emphasizes that all data collected during domestic operations will remain within the country, with no data being transferred to foreign servers.