Read previewChina’s leading ride-hailing firm has dropped out of a program that allows it to test self-driving vehicles on Californian public roads. Ride-hailing giant Didi has withdrawn from California’s autonomous vehicle testing program, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, as several rival Chinese firms also scaled back their self-driving operations in the state. Future Publishing/Getty imagesDidi is not the only Chinese company that appears to be scaling back autonomous vehicle testing in California, or pulling out entirely. That's a significant decline from the previous year, when Chinese autonomous vehicle companies conducted over 450,000 miles of testing. AdvertisementHe said that public backlash toward autonomous vehicles in cities like San Francisco had increased the risks of negative PR for companies testing the technology on public roads.

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Persons: —, Didi, WeRide, AutoX —, That's, Sesame, Bob Latta, Cruise, that's, ” John Helveston, ” Helveston Organizations: Service, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Business, DMV, Baidu, Future Publishing, Pegasus Technology, NBC, Republican, Anadolu, Getty, George Washington University Locations: California, Shanghai, China, Jiaxing, San Francisco