
SHANGHAI -- Shanghai has begun to trial self-driving taxis within a few square kilometers in the city, as part of China's plan to launch such a service across the country by 2025. As part of this report, I took a ride in one of the those cabs recently.
First, some background. China rates self-driving technology over five levels. Level-4 cabs, which are the ones being trialed, can only operate specific routes, controlled by an artificial intelligence system. Level 5, the highest, refers to completely autonomous vehicles.