In the past year, we’ve seen incredible advances in autonomous vehicles and it has drastically changed the way we view them. While only a few years ago, self-driving cars were limited to campuses and special testing facilities, these days they can be found on city streets and highways all over the world.

One of the many contributing factors to this change has been industry leaders as they lead the way in innovative tech that will shape the automotive landscape in 2021 and beyond. We’ll be discussing how each brand leads the way in autonomous tech:

1. Tesla

Since its inception, Tesla has been a leader in innovative technology. The company is well known for creating affordable electric vehicles with an award-winning luxury feel. However, even with all of their success thus far, most people don’t know that they are also working on autonomous driving capabilities. They are currently testing prototype vehicles out on streets worldwide to collect data and measure performance under various conditions. The data they collect will be used to improve their systems, ultimately leading to more robust features and functionality in future models. There is much speculation regarding plans for autonomy. Some analysts believe they will release autonomous features gradually over time as they continue to test and collect feedback from drivers around the world; others believe they have big plans for true autonomy right out of launch day.

2. Pony.ai

Pony.ai is set to become one of China’s top autonomous vehicle developers after receiving approval from Beijing’s municipal government. Today they are proud to announce that they are a Beijing-based company, and welcome all talented engineers that want to join their mission to bring autonomous driving technology from Silicon Valley to China.

3. Volvo

Volvo is committed to developing autonomous vehicles. Earlier in 2017, the company purchased 100 XC90s from Uber and will provide software support for Uber’s autonomous fleet. These XC90s will help them collect data needed to develop future autonomous cars for their customers. However, they also have intentions of creating their own ride-sharing service with these vehicles so that owners can make extra money when they are not using them. The company is aiming to have a completely self-driving car on the road by this year, which would be ahead of schedule compared to competitors like General Motors and Ford who expect to have one on sale by 2022 and 2023 respectively.

4. Waymo

This is a self-driving car company under Alphabet, Google’s parent company. As one of only four organizations approved by the California ‘Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program’ to test fully autonomous vehicles on public roads in California, this company has arguably one of the most innovative technology companies developing autonomous cars today. The idea was spun off from Google with a mission to make self-driving cars available to every person on earth. Recently, they reached a settlement deal with Uber where Waymo would receive 0.34% equity in Uber; however, there are no specific monetary details in terms of how much money was involved.

5. Voyage

The Voyage AV has been approved by California’s DMV to operate as a self-driving vehicle. While other self-driving vehicles have attempted to test their technology in real-world situations, they haven’t received formal approval from an official government agency. This AV operates on its own as a driverless taxi and serves residents of Silicon Valley.