During the first part of their working visit to California in the United States, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, and the Minister of the Economy, SME's, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, had a meeting with Pony.ai, the world leader in autonomous driving technology. The company is a pioneer in autonomous mobility technologies, and is behind pilot projects for robotaxis and robotrucks. Given Pony.ai's intention to establish a European centre of excellence for research and development in Luxembourg, and the Luxembourg government's desire to make the Grand Duchy a European pioneer in autonomous driving, the Minister for the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dr. James Peng, co-founder of the company.
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(fr. l. to r.) Marc Hamilton, Solutions Architecture and Engineering; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign and Foreign Trade.
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(fr. l. to r.) Lex Delles, Minister for the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism; Alex Chriss, CEO of Paypal; Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
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(fr. l. to r.) Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism
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(fr. l. to r.) Ned Finkle, Vice President of Govt Affairs; Xavier BETTEL, Minister for Foreign and Foreign Trade
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(left to right) Lex DELLES, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism
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In particular, Pony.ai intends to considerably strengthen its capabilities within the European Union and develop tailor-made solutions for European users. The company is also planning to set up its sales, maintenance and support operations in the Grand Duchy to guarantee the provision of comprehensive services. Pony.ai also intends to develop its European data centre in Luxembourg, focusing on secure, efficient processing that complies with national and European requirements for connected and automated vehicles. Targeted talent acquisition - particularly of highly qualified engineers – and a local training and skills development programme will complement the activities to be developed from this base.
Minister Delles stated in this context that "the intelligent mobility sector is one of the priorities for Luxembourg's economic diversification. Our aim is to make the Grand Duchy an European pioneer in autonomous driving. So I'm very pleased to have signed an MoU with Pony.ai, a leader in autonomous mobility technologies and services. This is an important opportunity to promote the technical expertise of the intelligent mobility sector in Luxembourg".
Minister Bettel welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Pony.ai in the field of automated driving: "The fact that Pony.ai has chosen Luxembourg reconfirms the excellent environment that the Grand Duchy offers to innovative companies. We have a digital ecosystem that enables high-performance, reliable and secure data processing. In addition, there is a synergy between Pony.ai's technical expertise and the government's national development strategies, which aim to catalyse research and technological development, local job creation, skills development and sustainable economic growth."
Following the visit, ministers Bettel and Delles were received at Google's Mountain View headquarters by Marcus Jadotte, Vice-President, Government Affairs & Policy, Joris Schoonis, Managing Director BeNeLux - Google Cloud, Steven Kan, Director Operations, Strategy, and Chief of Staff, Cloud, and Lie Junius, Senior Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy - Google Cloud. Discussions focused on developments in artificial intelligence and the evolution of the European market. Opportunities for collaboration with the University of Luxembourg were also discussed.
Ministers Bettel and Delles then visited Nvidia. A world leader in graphics cards for high-performance computing, Nvidia has been collaborating with Luxembourg since 2019, following the creation of a joint artificial intelligence research laboratory in the Grand Duchy. Nvidia is also cooperating with Luxprovide, which is responsible for operating and managing the MeluXina supercomputer in Luxembourg.
Finally, Ministers Bettel and Delles also paid a courtesy call on PayPal.
Press release by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade