Autonomous driving startup Pony.ai has put on hold plans to go public in New York through a merger with a blank-cheque firm at a $12 billion valuation, after it failed to gain assurances from Beijing that it would not become a target of a crackdown against Chinese technology companies, people familiar with the matter said.
The decision makes Pony.ai one of the biggest companies to suspend its US listing plans after China banned ride-sharing giant Didi Global Inc from signing up new users just days after its blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) in June.
