UISEE Founder on Closed-Scene L4 Autonomous Driving: Unit Economics Are Turning Positive
On October 3, 2026, Wu Gansha, founder of Chinese autonomous driving company UISEE, reviewed the company's decade-long journey in an interview. He said UISEE has focused on L4 autonomous driving in closed scenarios such as airports, factories and mines, avoiding the highly competitive open-road robotaxi segment. The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2026, and now sells unmanned vehicles, autonomous driving software and "AI drivers".
In the first half of 2026, UISEE generated revenue of about 163 million yuan, up 64.9% year-on-year, with gross profit of around 85.99 million yuan and a gross margin of 52.9%. Wu noted that the hardest part of autonomous driving is the final step from 99 to 100 points, which involves four barriers: safety, efficiency, all-weather operation, and fleet maintenance.
He said many customers have already reached positive unit economics when comparing vehicle purchase and maintenance costs against saved labor costs. The most typical case is airport baggage tractors, where one vehicle can replace three or four drivers. Overseas airports face expensive and scarce labor, and the civil aviation industry is becoming more open to unmanned vehicles. UISEE recently announced a cooperation with Lufthansa at Munich Airport, which was initiated by the airline.
Looking ahead, Wu said UISEE plans to turn "AI drivers" into a general capability and sell it as a subscription service embedded in factories, ports, mines, logistics and bus operations, with a revenue model similar to annual recurring revenue in the large-model industry. He predicted that as penetration in niche scenarios climbs to 10%-15%, an inflection point will arrive, possibly within five years.
