 | |
| Industry | Self-driving cars |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 2016 |
| Founders | Cao Xudong (CEO) [1] |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Deep learning software |
| Website | www |
Momenta Global Limited (shortened to Momenta) is a developer of intelligent driving technologies, based in Beijing [2] and Suzhou, China. [3]
Momenta was founded in September 2016 led by Cao Xudong, a former scientist at Microsoft Research and formerly executive director of research and development at Chinese deep-learning and computer vision company SenseTime. [2]
In 2017, Mercedes-Benz Group invested in Momenta, which was the automaker's first-ever investment into a Chinese startup. [4] [5]
Momenta became the first Chinese unicorn in the field of self-driving cars after investors valued the company at more than $1 billion in 2021. [6] The investors included, in addition to those already mentioned, General Motors (GM), IDG Capital, GGV Capital, Blue Lake Capital, Shunwei Capital, and Cathay Capital. [7] General Motors invested $300 million in Momenta, as was announced in 2021, with the aim to accelerate the development of self-driving cars in China. [6] By that time, Momenta struck partnerships with SAIC Motor, Toyota, auto parts supplier Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, Temasek, Yunfeng Capital, and Tencent. [8]
Since 2021, SAIC Motors and Momenta have worked together on robotaxi operations in Shanghai and Suzhou. In addition to the robotaxis, Momenta is also supplying autonomous driving technology to SAIC's IM who has cars with Momenta tech currently being sold in the United Kingdom. [9] [10] [11]
In December 2021, Momenta and BYD established a joint venture, called DiPi Intelligent Mobility Co, located in Shenzhen, to deploy autonomous driving capabilities across certain BYD car model lines. [10]
In 2023, General Motors China received approval to conduct road tests in Shanghai for its autonomous vehicles developed in collaboration with Momenta. [12]
In 2024, additional partnerships with Nvidia and Qualcomm followed. [13] [14] Mercedes has a partnership with Momenta since 2024, too. [15] In August 2024, Audi and SAIC Motor announced a joint venture in which Momenta is contributing a system for autonomous driving. [16] In November 2024, Momenta announced partnerships with Nissan and Honda to develop advanced intelligent driving solutions based on an end-to-end intelligent driving large model. [17] [18]
In September 2024, Momenta introduced its first end-to-end self-driving model intended for mass production. [1]
In July 2025 BMW started a cooperation. [15] This cooperation includes Momenta providing driver assistance systems for BMW's entire new model lineup in China. [19] In September 2025, Momenta announced that it would enter into a strategic Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) partnership with French auto component manufacturer Valeo. [20] The company also announced a partnership with Uber to test Robotaxis, in Germany starting in 2026. [21] Additionally, Mercedes-Benz announced Momenta would be equipping their fully electric CLA model with a driver assitance system, which would be on Chinese streets starting in autumn 2025. [22]
Momenta does not build cars itself, but sells their car software to automakers. The company works on deep learning capacities, the so-called "brains", of cars. Momenta's software is fed with large amounts of data which are needed in particular for the development of self-driving cars, so that they can achieve end-to-end intelligent driving. [1] [23] [24]
According to Rita Liao in TechCrunch , the company has a "two-legged approach of selling semi-automated software while investing in research for next-gen self-driving tech". [25] In the second half of 2025, Momenta launched the Momenta Flywheel R6 based on reinforcement learning and its first batch of mass-production platform-based driverless robotaxis is expected to start trial operations in China by the end of 2025. [26]
According to Automotive World, "More than 160 OEM vehicle programs from leading global automakers are already committed to Momenta, with over 40 production models delivered and on the road." [27]
| Manufacturers | Brands | Vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic investors | SAIC | IM Motors | All models [28] |
| SAIC-GM | Buick | Electra L7 [29] | |
| Cadillac | Vistiq [30] | ||
| SAIC-VW | AUDI | E5 Sportback [31] | |
| Mercedes-Benz | CLA (3rd gen) [32] | ||
| GAC Toyota | Toyota | bZ3X, bZ7 [33] [34] | |
| FAW Toyota | bZ5 [33] | ||
| Suppliers | BYD | Yangwang | U9, U8 [35] |
| Denza | Z9, D9, N9, N8L | ||
| BYD | Han, Tang, Song L EV, Sealion 07, Seal [36] | ||
| Dongfeng Nissan | Nissan | N7 [37] | |
| GAC | Hyptec | HL [38] | |
| Aion | Aion V (2nd gen) [39] | ||
| Chery | Fulwin A9L [40] | ||
| Dongfeng | eπ [41] | ||
| Dongfeng Honda | Honda [41] | ||
| GAC Honda | |||
| FAW | Hongqi [41] | ||