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Pony.ai’s autonomous-driving distance tops 100m km as China scales up L4 commercialization_我的网站
A | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a notice suggesting it may consider a proposal to ban the use of formaldehyde in hair straightening and hair smoothing products.The FDA's consideration of the proposal was entered in the Unified Agenda, a government registry of actions that administrative agencies plan to issue.There is no set timeline on when the agency may consider the proposal or when, if it moves forward, a ban would go into effect.Frequent use of hair-straightening products that include chemicals like formaldehyde has been found in studies to put women at a higher risk for uterine cancer.One study published last year found an association that women who self-reported frequent use of hair straightening products were more than twice as likely to later develop uterine cancer than women who did not use the products. Scientists caution that it's not clear yet if these products cause cancer. For now, research only hints at only a probable link.Uterine cancer, a type of cancer that starts in the uterus, is a risk factor for anyone with a uterus, but the risk increases with age, especially during and after menopause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Last year's study found that Black women may be more affected by the increased risk of uterine cancer not because of their race, but due to the fact that they use chemical hair straightening products at a higher rate. Frequent use of the products was defined as more than four times in the previous year, according to the study, which included more than 33,000 women between the ages of 35 to 74.Formaldehyde is described by the Environmental Protection Agency as a "colorless, flammable gas" that can cause "adverse health effects" with exposure. When used in hair smoothing products, the formaldehyde is released into the air as a gas when the products are heated.The Department of Health and Human Services lists formaldehyde as a "known carcinogen."The FDA issued a warning last year stating that the use of hair smoothing products in an area that is not properly ventilated could lead to a risk of a person inhaling formaldehyde. In the warning, the agency acknowledged it began receiving "inquiries from consumers and salon professionals" about the safety of formaldehyde in products as far back as 20 years ago.Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy organization, described the FDA's consideration of a ban on formaldehyde as a move that is "welcome, but long overdue."Benesh pointed out that the Environmental Working Group published a report as early as 2011 on the widespread use of formaldehyde in hair product brands and in salons across the U.S."The FDA has been aware of this issue for a long time," Benesh told "Good Morning America," adding, "There is no reason that the FDA shouldn’t have acted earlier on what is a real public health issue, particularly for salon workers."The FDA did not reply to ABC News' request for comment in response to Benesh's claim that the agency should have acted sooner.Benesh added that salon workers are at increased risk of adverse health effects due to their prolonged exposure to the types of hair treatments that include chemicals, including keratin treatments and Brazilian blowouts."Consumers are going to be exposed if they get one of those treatments or if you're in the salon while someone else is getting that same kind of treatment," she said. "But salon workers are more likely to do multiple treatments a day or multiple treatments a week and over the course of a year, and so those repeat exposures can really add up to an increased risk."California and Maryland recently passed state legislation banning the use of formaldehyde in hair straightening products. Both laws are set to go into effect January 2025.Benesh noted there are hair straightening and smoothing products currently on the market that do not use formaldehyde. She said her advice to consumers and salon workers is to not wait for regulatory action but instead refrain from using hair products with formaldehyde on their own."There's no reason to wait until the law takes effect or until a proposed rule takes effect to switch to safer products, or to just no longer offer those services if you can't find a hair smoothing or hair straightening treatment that you like that doesn't use formaldehyde," Benesh said. "It's not worth the risk. It's not worth your stylists or your consumers potentially getting cancer just to have straight hair."。
Chinese autonomous-driving company Pony.ai said on Monday that its cumulative autonomous-driving distance worldwide has surpassed 100 million kilometers, marking the latest milestone as China's driverless sector moves from technology validation toward mass production and scaled commercial deployment.
The milestone comes as L4 autonomous driving gains commercial traction across passenger transport and logistics in China, while Chinese companies are accelerating overseas deployment through partnerships with local operators in markets including Europe and Southeast Asia.
Industry experts said that the significance goes beyond rising distance. As commercialization gathers pace, the next phase of competition will increasingly hinge on whether autonomous-driving technology can be deployed at scale, brought down to commercially viable costs and replicated across different transport scenarios and markets.
At a recent media briefing, Pony.ai said that its fourth-generation L4 autonomous electric heavy-duty truck had entered mass production, with commercial operations expected to begin in the coming months. The company plans to deploy 500 to 1,000 trucks over the next two to three years across long-haul freight, bulk cargo transport and port logistics.
A notable part of that transition is the sharp decline in costs. Autonomous-driving hardware costs for Pony.ai's fourth-generation heavy truck are about 70 percent lower than for the previous generation, according to the company.
Similar cost reductions are also emerging in robotaxis. Pony.ai said on its official blog that the bill-of-materials cost of the autonomous-driving kit for its seventh-generation robotaxi has fallen 70 percent from the previous generation, helping the company achieve unit-economics breakeven in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.
China's autonomous-driving sector is moving from technology validation to large-scale commercial deployment, underpinned by the rapid accumulation of real-world driving data, Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the Global Times on Monday.
"Continuous road testing allows L4 systems to better adapt to local traffic conditions, laying the groundwork for wider commercial use," Pan said.
China has opened multiple cities to autonomous-driving applications, with commercialization gathering pace. As deployment expands and marginal technology costs fall, autonomous driving is expected to unlock significant commercial value and emerge as a new form of mobility, veteran industry analyst Liu Dingding told the Global Times.
Pony.ai aims to expand its robotaxi fleet to more than 3,000 vehicles by the end of 2026 and operate in 20 cities worldwide, with nearly half of those cities overseas. It also plans to develop an international version of its seventh-generation robotaxi tailored to different regulatory requirements and infrastructure, supporting the deployment of more than 1,000 vehicles in overseas markets.
Pony.ai's ambition also reflects a broader push by Chinese autonomous-driving companies to expand overseas.
On August 3, WeRide announced a partnership with Danish shared-mobility platform GreenMobility to deploy autonomous ride-hailing services in Denmark, marking its first entry into the Nordic region and sixth European market. Subject to regulatory approval, the service is expected to open to the public in the first half of 2027 using WeRide's latest GXR L4 robotaxi.
WeRide said on its website that its autonomous-driving products are now deployed in more than 40 cities across 12 countries. The company holds autonomous-driving permits in eight markets and operates a global L4 fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles.
A similar expansion is taking place in public transport. On July 17, Chinese autonomous-driving company MOGOX announced a strategic partnership with Singapore-based ComfortDelGro Bus. The two companies will cooperate on autonomous-vehicle deployment and operations, commercial expansion and coordination with regulators.
Pan said that China's autonomous-driving sector has two key advantages: a broad supplier base for major components and a large domestic market that allows companies to deploy services widely and accumulate real-world data. Advances in simulation and synthetic-data technologies have further strengthened the sector's ability to train and refine autonomous-driving systems.
Liu pointed to the cost benefits of scale. As deployment expands, the cost of key automotive-grade components such as lidar and chips continues to fall, improving the economics of commercial operations and creating more room for technological iteration, he said.
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