Momenta Global Limited（Momenta，初速度科技）said on July 29 that it had received authorization from Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, or KBA, to test Level 4 autonomous-driving systems on urban roads across the country. The Hong Kong-listed company said it was the first Chinese enterprise to obtain a German L4 testing permit with nationwide urban-road coverage.
The authorization gives Momenta a broader regulatory basis for conducting public-road trials in Germany. Instead of seeking a new federal testing authorization whenever it expands into another city, the company can test within the geographic and operating limits specified by the permit. Individual trials may still be subject to the permit’s technical conditions, road restrictions and coordination with the relevant local authorities.
The distinction between testing and commercial operation is important. Under German law, experimental vehicles equipped with automated or autonomous functions require a KBA testing permit before operating on public roads. Regular driverless operation beyond testing follows a separate approval process covering the vehicle, its defined operating area and the responsible technical supervision arrangements.
Momenta’s permit therefore does not constitute general type approval, authorization for unrestricted driverless operation or a commercial passenger-service license. Nor does it automatically apply elsewhere in the European Union. Its significance lies instead in allowing the company to validate its system across a wider range of German urban environments under a single federal testing framework.
The approval supports Momenta’s planned European collaboration with Uber. The companies announced in September 2025 that Munich would be the starting point for testing their Level 4 robotaxi program in Germany in 2026, with the longer-term goal of expanding to other European cities. Their original agreement said the first European deployment would use onboard safety operators, underscoring that the project remains in the testing and validation stage.
Founded and led by Cao Xudong, Momenta develops both mass-production assisted-driving systems and Level 4 autonomous-driving technology. The company describes its longer-term strategy as building a unified “world-model” platform capable of supporting passenger vehicles, robotaxis, autonomous vans and trucks, with possible extensions into embodied intelligence. These remain company-stated development objectives rather than products operating at the same stage of commercialization.
Momenta has also developed relationships with international automakers including Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as China-based vehicle programs involving Audi and Volkswagen-related joint ventures. Much of that cooperation has focused on assisted-driving systems for vehicles sold in China, so it should not be treated as evidence that Momenta already supplies autonomous-driving systems across those companies’ global fleets.
The company began trading in Hong Kong on July 8 under stock code 6880. Its shares were offered at HK$295.60, implying an initial equity value of about HK$69.6 billion before any exercise of the over-allotment option. Descriptions of Momenta as Hong Kong’s “first physical-AI stock” are promotional market labels rather than a formal exchange classification.
Momenta says its robotaxi technology is undergoing testing or pilot deployment in Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi and Shenzhen, as well as Munich and Abu Dhabi. These projects should not all be described as commercial operations: their regulatory permissions, use of safety personnel and availability to paying passengers differ substantially by city.
Other Chinese autonomous-driving developers are pursuing overseas validation through different regulatory routes. Baidu said in May that Apollo Go expected to begin London testing with Uber and Lyft, but had not yet described that program as active. WeRide, meanwhile, said its Bosch-developed L2++ assisted-driving solution had entered road testing and localization validation in Germany, France and Japan. Those projects illustrate the wider international push, although neither is directly equivalent to Momenta’s reported Germany-wide L4 authorization.
For Chinese autonomous-driving companies, the German permit is a meaningful regulatory milestone, but its importance should not be overstated. It lowers one barrier to conducting multi-city testing and gives Momenta an opportunity to generate European road data, demonstrate compliance and prepare for later operating-area applications. Commercial robotaxi services will still require further approvals, local operating partners, technical supervision and evidence that the system can perform safely under European traffic conditions.
The broader test is whether Chinese autonomous-driving companies can convert overseas permits into repeatable commercial deployments. Momenta has now secured a stronger platform for that process in Germany. What follows—rather than the testing permit alone—will determine whether the company can move from international validation to a durable European mobility business.