On November 2, 2026, Tony Han, Founder and CEO of WeRide, appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box Asia as he discussed the importance of regulation and safety in accelerating robotaxi deployment at scale, and its roadmap toward future autonomous travel between Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
The following is the full transcript of the interview.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
So we have here with us Tony Han, CEO of WeRide. Tony, thank you so much for joining us.
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
Thank you.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
So we are at the Hong Kong FinTech Festival. What are you expecting to get from this event?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
Several aspects. So first of all, we want to learn new things. And today, everything happened probably at a frequency of every six hours. OK, so we want to learn about new things. And also, we want to bring WeRide to the investors. Hong Kong as the center, as a finance center, there's lots of very valuable potential investors. We want to also bring our very exciting development progress to the conference.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Tell us about how WeRide is trying to scale its L4 autonomous driving technology that doesn't require human drivers, correct me if I'm wrong, and also how you're trying to scale your Robotaxi business.
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
So currently, I think ecosystem-wise, and also the hardware-wise, technology, and the software-wise, we are pretty much ready. There's some challenge we need to conquer that is actually about regulatory issues. And like AI today, we are experiencing day zero every day, as Elon Musk has posted in his X, right? So as the regulatory authority, they need to find new tools, new ideas, new algorithm to monitor this AI algorithm and also robotaxis, which are growing smarter and smarter. That's the thing. We have to solve this issue in a timely fashion and in a nicely fashion in order to really scale the fleet. So far we have already done trial operations and small scale operations in more than 13 countries. But to scale, we really need to solve these kinds of issues.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
So regulation is an issue. I see. You recently said that Robotaxi services will begin in Singapore and Hong Kong. We are based in Hong Kong. You came from Guangzhou this morning. When will you be able to ride your Robotaxi to Hong Kong?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
I would expect it to be within four or five years, because in China there is a policy that we call the Greater Bay Area, which includes three major cities, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. And it is my dream, that one day I can jump into a Robotaxi, fall asleep or work, and when I finish my job or when I wake up, I have already arrived in Hong Kong. So I think within five years we will be ready. And again, the most important issue we currently face, and we have to solve it very carefully and very, very nicely is the regulatory issues. We have to convince the regulatory authorities like this whole approach is safe not only during the trip, but also that it is safe to the community.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
So how are you helping regulators figure out this new technology? Because that seems to be sort of a stressful.
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
We take a very proactive approachand try to bring our technology to them and let them understand our technology. At the same time, we schedule many meetings to understand how they want to regulate or monitor the whole operation. And if there are any tools and technology we can provide to the government, we are very willing to do so. And overall, we are taking a very proactive attitude and role to solve these issues.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
You're already doing business in more than 10 countries. Which market is next?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
Which part is next? You mean the continent or especially countries?
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Country.
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
It depends on several factors like availability of local partners and the openess of the local government and also geopolitical issues. We have to really study carefully. So we will let you know at the very earliest time if we can announce it.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
So this massive crypto hack that occurred last week, we have to talk about it. It's likely top of mind for a lot of folks here. What did you make of the incident?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
I think my make of the incident is just like I mentioned like currently the regulatory role of the government and how do we regulate this kind of AI and the corresponding attack associated with AI. We have to really start it currently because this is new technology. Think about it like we are in the year of 1800. Electricity has just been invented. How do we just regulate the usage of electricity? Need to be studied very carefully. We are currently in such an era, and even the impact of AI, I personally believe, is even bigger than electricity. So I think we really need to invest lots of resources, lots of smart minds in this issue.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Then how do you ensure stakeholders that your services, autonomous driving, is safe from these sorts of attacks?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
So I think we have to closely work with our partners. And so far, technology-wise, safety-wise, operational-wise, we are pretty much ready. But we need to really focus on talking with the local government officials, our investors, and all the resources. We need to really put all the resources together to solve this problem jointly. This is not a single-party task. It actually has to be done together very seamlessly with all these parties.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Right. Then are you planning to, or have you recently increased insurance coverage of sorts in case these events happen?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
We actually maintain the same insurance level. And I do believe because we have commercial insurance to cover every operational vehicle, and with our data, our records, our safety gets growing and which translates to lower premiums from commercial insurance because the technology is getting safer and safer.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Let's talk about earnings. Your earnings for Q1, Q2 was not super great. What expectations do you have for Q3?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
If I may, actually, I want to correct that. Q2 is great, we have a more than 80% increase. Quarter-wise, we have more than 100% increase. I believe that is a fantastic record. So I think the numbers just tell us it's very, very, very good. Our revenue is growing, profit margin is growing, our network is growing, and technology is getting much better. So overall, it's a lot of good progress. And Q3, I will let you know, but overall, if you look at our expansion, our current demonstration, I think good news is coming.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Okay. Quick question. Your Hong Kong-listed shares, they're down quite a bit this year. Do you expect a rebound anytime soon?
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
Nobody can predict the stock market, right? I can only give you an estimation about the trend in the long run. There's only one company in this world that is taking L4 robotaxi from the approach that both Waymo is taking and Tesla is taking. That's WeRide. And look at our technology, look at our operation. It's a very, very valuable company. We may be undervalued in a short amount of time, but in the long run, we will come back to the right track. I'm very, very confident about that.
Lisa Kim, CNBC
Thank you so much, Tony, for joining us.
Dr. Tony Han, WeRide
Thank you.
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