Momenta Global Ltd. is working with chipmaker XHEART on autonomous-driving chips, including the next-generation X9, that the company says could cut computing costs — one of the largest ongoing expenses in operating a driverless fleet2. Shuo Xie, head of Momenta's robotaxi business, said she hopes many of the robotaxis deployed globally in the coming years will run on the X9, with costs significantly lower than equivalent computing power from Nvidia.
The chip partnership sits alongside a broader scaling plan: Xie told Reuters on September 29 that Momenta aims to grow its robotaxi fleet from the hundreds to several thousand vehicles by the end of next year, with planned deployments in Dubai and additional European cities1,4.
"The size of our robotaxi fleet will be in the hundreds at the end of this year and then it will be several thousand at the end of next year," Xie said in an online interview.
Current footprint and expansion targets
Momenta currently has more than 100 robotaxis deployed across three countries, with testing underway in five Chinese cities as well as in Munich and Abu Dhabi. The company operates two business lines: advanced driver-assistance software sold to automakers and the still-early-stage robotaxi service. Toyota and BYD are among its partners.
Momenta has been in talks with a "few" European cities for further expansion and plans to deploy vehicles in Dubai next year, Xie said, adding that Japan is also a priority market.
IPO overhang
Founded by a former Microsoft researcher, Momenta raised approximately $751 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in July. Its shares have since fallen roughly 45% from the IPO price, weighed down in part by caution about the outlook for Hong Kong-listed stocks. The company remains unprofitable.
Momenta competes with Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo and Pony.ai, among others, in the robotaxi market.
ANALYSIS The jump from roughly 100 deployed vehicles today to several thousand by the end of next year would represent an order-of-magnitude scale-up, spanning at least four geographic markets simultaneously. The XHEART chip partnership addresses a concrete bottleneck — computing cost per ride — but the 45% post-IPO share decline and continued losses add financial pressure to that timeline.