DeepRoute.ai
| 元戎启行 | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Autonomous vehicles Artificial intelligence |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founder | Zhou Guang |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen , China |
| Products | Autonomous driving systems |
| Website | www |
DeepRoute.ai (Chinese: 元戎启行) is a Chinese autonomous driving company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Shenzhen, China. The company develops full-stack self-driving solutions including perception, decision-making, and control systems.
History
DeepRoute.ai was founded in February 2019 in Shenzhen, China, by Zhou Guang (周光), who serves as the company's CEO.[1]
In September 2019, the company collaborated with Dongfeng for a live-streamed autonomous driving demonstration.[2]
In October 2019, during the 7th Military World Games, DeepRoute.ai conducted Robotaxi demonstration operations.[2]
In November 2019, it obtained an intelligent connected vehicle road test permit for public roads in Shenzhen.[3]
In October 2020, DeepRoute.ai signed an "Autonomous Driving Leadership Project" with Dongfeng to build one of China's largest autonomous fleets.[4]
In August 2020, DeepRoute.ai announced its partnership with Cao Cao Mobility,[5] a Geely-backed ride-hailing company,[6] to test Robotaxis in Hangzhou for daily operations, planning to provide Robotaxis during the 2022 Asian Games.[7]
In September 2021, DeepRoute.ai secured US$300 million in a Series B funding round led by Alibaba.[8]
In December 2021, the company unveiled its DeepRoute-Driver 2.0, an L4-level autonomous driving solution comprising five solid-state lidar sensors, eight cameras, a proprietary computing system and an optional millimeter-wave radar. with a production cost of under US$10,000.[9][10]
In June 2022, it partnered with Deppon Express to provide autonomous light truck freight transfer services.[11]
In March 2023, the company launched its high-precision map-free intelligent driving solution, DeepRoute-Driver 3.0.[12]
In November 2024, Great Wall Motor announced a $100 million Series C funding round for Deeproute. With this, Deeproute has completed five rounds of financing, raising a cumulative total of over $500 million. Its shareholders include Fosun RZ Capital, Yunqi Partners, Alibaba, Vision Plus Capital, and Dongfeng, among others.[13]
Products
VLA Model
VLA Model is a Vision–language–action model designed for autonomous driving systems. It integrates visual perception, semantic understanding, and action decision-making into a unified framework, aiming to enhance the safety and adaptability of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in complex road environments.[14] The model was officially launched on August 26, 2025, as the core of DeepRoute.ai's DeepRoute IO 2.0 platform.[14]
The VLA model is characterized by its "visual-language-action" architecture, which incorporates a chain-of-thought (CoT) reasoning capability inspired by large language models. This design is intended to address the "black box" limitations of traditional end-to-end autonomous driving systems by enabling the model to analyze information, infer causality, and make decisions in a more transparent and interpretable manner.[15][16]
Appliance
The company has partnered with several automakers including Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Geely to develop and test autonomous vehicles.[17]
| Manufacturers | Brands | Vehicles |
|---|---|---|
| GWM | Wey | Lanshan, Gaoshan |
| Tank | 400, 500, 700 | |
| Geely | smart | #5 |
| Geely Galaxy | M9 (co-developed with Qianli) |
See also
- Yinwang (Huawei's autonomous driving solution company)
- Momenta (autonomous driving solution company backed by SAIC, GM, and Toyota)
- Qianli Technology (Geely's autonomous driving solution company)
- Zhuoyu Technology (FAW and DJI's autonomous driving solution company)
- Horizon Robotics (Chinese autonomous driving solution company)
References
- ^ "About DeepRoute.ai". DeepRoute.ai. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ a b Crowe, Steve (2019-10-08). "DeepRoute.ai raises $50M for autonomous vehicle tech". The Robot Report. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ "DeepRoute.ai gets Shenzhen road test permit". Shenzhen Daily. 2019-11-05.
- ^ "Dongfeng to help Wuhan build China's largest demonstration zone for autonomous driving". Gasgoo. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ "DeepRoute and Cao Cao Partner for Level 4 Self-driving Robotaxis". Electronics360. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ "Geely's Ride-hailing Unit Cao Cao Mobility Raises $589M Series B to Upgrade Tech and Expand Fleet". TechCrunch. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ "DeepRoute and Cao Cao Mobility to Debut New Robo-Taxi Fleet During 2022 Asian Games". Auto Vision News. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ "Alibaba leads $300 mln funding in self-driving startup DeepRoute.ai". Reuters. 2021-09-08.
- ^ "DeepRoute.ai introduces L4 autonomous driving solution under $10,000". Gasgoo. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ "Autonomous driving startup DeepRoute.ai prices L4 solution at $10,000". TechCrunch. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
- ^ "Self-Driving Trucks Commercially Deployed in China for First Time | IoT World Today". Archived from the original on 2025-02-06. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ "元戎启行 DeepRoute-Driver 3.0 智能驾驶解决方案正式发布：不再依赖高精度地图，无地域限制 - IT之家". www.ithome.com. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ 环球网 (2024-11-02). "长城汽车向元戎启行注资1亿美元 成为股东". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ a b "DeepRoute.ai Releases DeepRoute IO 2.0 Platform and VLA Model". Science and Technology Daily. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
- ^ "DeepRoute.ai CEO Zhou Guang: Assisted Driving Must Be Responsible for User Safety, AI Should Have a Heart of Fear for Risks". ifeng.com. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
- ^ "Hears, Sees, and Walks Steadily! DeepRoute.ai Releases DeepRoute IO 2.0 Platform and VLA Model". QQ.com. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
- ^ "DeepRoute.ai Partners with Dongfeng Motor". PR Newswire. 2022-05-10.