Autonomous driving startup Pony.ai is getting ready to ride with the big boys.

The company announced Sunday it has formed a new partnership with global car-making giant Toyota for deployment of autonomous driving taxis.

It didn’t provide many more details, though it did say its “PonyPilot” project started testing in 2018 in the South China city of Guangzhou, capital of affluent Guangdong province. That would make Pony.ai the first to offer self-driving taxi services for the general public in China. The high-tech startup said in June it was also qualified to operate robo-taxis in California.

Pony.ai is falling in line behind internet behemoth Baidu, which is considered the leader in China’s autonomous driving and unmanned taxi races. The company expects to deploy its first fleet of self-driving taxis in central China’s Changsha this year.

Earlier this year, failure of one of China’s earliest autonomous driving companies Roadstar.ai and American self-driving star Drive.ai dimmed the prospects for startups in the sector.

Established in 2016, Pony.ai has received funding from high-profile investors including Sequoia Capital China and IDG Capital. It was valued around $1.7 billion in April.