China's AI-Powered Self-Driving Car Market Is Ahead of the U.S.

China runs 2,300 robotaxis across 30 cities through five companies. Waymo, the only U.S. company charging fares for the service, runs about 700 vehicles across five cities. Bill Russo of Automobility attributes the gap mainly to infrastructure: Chinese cities compete to set up pilot zones, subsidize R&D, and fast-track permits, while U.S. regulation is fragmented state-by-state and driven by private industry rather than coordinated policy. Russo’s own comparison: reliable signal at 15,000 feet in the Chinese mountains, against losing connectivity while driving around Reno, Nevada.

Consumer trust and habits matter as much as infrastructure. Only about 40% of Chinese households own a car, against more than 90% in the U.S., pushing the economics of autonomous vehicles toward fleets, ride-hailing, delivery, logistics, rather than personal ownership. Chinese consumers are also more comfortable with the technology, 85% versus 39% of Americans in a 2023 survey, and trust AI generally at more than double the American rate. That confidence took a hit in March, when a Xiaomi SU7 crashed fatally in Anhui province seconds after its driver took control from the self-driving system. Regulators responded by banning the term “smart driving” in ads and requiring driver-monitoring systems that can’t be disabled, and Chinese AV companies have been downplaying autonomous features in sales conversations since. In the U.S., by contrast, safety liability is being worked out case by case in court: a Florida jury recently found Tesla partly responsible for a fatal 2019 Autopilot crash, awarding $243 million.

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• China runs 2,300 robotaxis across 30 cities through five companies; the U.S. equivalent is Waymo alone, with about 700 vehicles across five cities.
• Bill Russo’s contrast for infrastructure: reliable signal at 15,000 feet in remote Chinese mountains, against losing connectivity while driving around Reno, Nevada.
• Only about 40% of Chinese households own a car, against over 90% in the U.S., which pushes the economic case for autonomous vehicles toward fleets, ride-hailing, delivery, logistics, rather than individually owned cars.
• A 2023 survey found 85% of Chinese consumers comfortable with unsupervised autonomous driving, against 39% of Americans; a 2025 survey found Chinese trust in AI generally running at roughly double the U.S. rate.
• A fatal March crash involving a Xiaomi SU7, the driver took control from the self-driving system seconds before hitting a cement pole, led regulators to ban the term “smart driving” in ads and require driver-monitoring systems that can’t be disabled.
• In the U.S., safety liability is being decided case by case in court instead of through top-down regulation: a Florida jury recently found Tesla partly responsible for a fatal 2019 Autopilot crash and awarded $243 million.