WeRide boss Tony Han Xu believes the first fully autonomous cars may arrive on streets by 2035, as global carmakers and tech firms accelerate the application of self-driving technologies despite roadblocks.The latest setback came when Chinese regulators stepped in after an incident in Wuhan on March 31. Authorities scaled back the issuance of new autonomous driving licences after a system failure on March 31 involving Baidu’s Apollo Go fleet, which left passengers stranded and disrupted traffic for hours.A vehicle capable of full automation is known as Level 5 (L5), according to a set of standards published by SAE International in 2014.
SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Right
WORDS101
ENT8
TUE · 2026-05-05 · 08:00 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0505-73841
NSR-2026-0505-73841News Report·EN·Technology
Chasing L5: WeRide CEO sees ‘ChatGPT moment’ in driverless cars within 10 years
WeRide CEO Tony Han Xu predicts fully autonomous Level 5 (L5) cars could be on streets by 2035, likening the potential breakthrough to a "ChatGPT moment" for the industry. This optimistic outlook comes as global companies advance self-driving technology, despite facing challenges.
Themis QiSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-05-05 · 08:00 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
South China Morning PostFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
101words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
8entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01
Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
WeRide CEO Tony Han Xu predicts fully autonomous Level 5 (L5) cars could be on streets by 2035, likening the potential breakthrough to a "ChatGPT moment" for the industry. This optimistic outlook comes as global companies advance self-driving technology, despite facing challenges. A recent incident involving Baidu's Apollo Go fleet in Wuhan on March 31, where a system failure stranded passengers and caused traffic disruptions, led Chinese regulators to scale back new autonomous driving license issuances. This event highlights the ongoing hurdles in achieving widespread L5 autonomy, a standard defined by SAE International.
Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 4Entities 8
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Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Technology
Economic Impact
Tone
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AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.60 / 1.00
Mixed
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
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Key claims
4 extracted01
A vehicle capable of full automation is known as Level 5 (L5).
factualSAE International
Confidence
1.00
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The March 31 incident involved a system failure that left passengers stranded and disrupted traffic.
factualarticle
Confidence
0.90
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Chinese regulators scaled back autonomous driving licenses after a Baidu Apollo Go incident on March 31.
factualarticle
Confidence
0.90
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WeRide CEO Tony Han Xu believes fully autonomous cars may arrive by 2035.
predictionTony Han Xu
Confidence
0.80
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Full report
1 min read · 101 words§ 05
Entities
8 identifiedKey playerOppositionContextPositiveNeutralNegative
Organizations4
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Keywords & salience
9 termsautonomous driving
1.00
driverless cars
1.00
level 5 automation
0.90
self-driving technologies
0.80
weride
0.70
chatgpt moment
0.60
baidu apollo go
0.50
regulatory setbacks
0.50
sae international
0.40
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Topic connections
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