Bliq.ai cleared to test driverless cars in Finland
Finnish regulators have approved Bliq.ai to operate driverless vehicles on public roads, marking a step forward for Europe’s retrofit autonomous driving market.
Finland has authorised Bliq.ai to operate its Bliq Driverless vehicles on public roads with immediate effect. The clearance makes Finland the startup's second European Union market, following a similar approval in Estonia this past May. Operations will begin in Helsinki, albeit with a safety driver behind the wheel.
The initial testing phase will run straight through the Nordic winter. This is a deliberate choice, designed to validate the system's reliability in one of the continent's most demanding driving environments. Erik Safonov, who currently oversees the company's Baltic operations, will lead the Helsinki deployment.
What distinguishes Bliq.ai in the crowded autonomous vehicle sector is its hardware-agnostic business model. Unlike competitors building purpose-made robotaxis, the company does not manufacture cars. Instead, it retrofits existing software-defined vehicles with a proprietary sensor and compute kit. For the broader automotive market, this approach offers a potential pathway to autonomy without requiring businesses or consumers to replace their current fleets.
The underlying technology pairs AI-based Level 2 driving with remote human supervision. A remote operator can intervene if the system encounters an unexpected obstacle, providing a safety net that allows for faster deployment. In Estonia, Bliq.ai claims this model supports the largest driverless fleet in Europe, totalling about a dozen vehicles.
“This approval brings us closer to making driverless mobility part of everyday life across Europe,” said Julian Glaab, Bliq’s chief executive and co-founder. The company's commercial strategy hinges on treating autonomous driving as an upgrade to existing transport rather than a completely new category of vehicle.
The Finnish milestone arrives as the European autonomous sector shows tentative signs of acceleration following years of stagnation. Belgium recently conducted Europe’s first Level 4 highway test, Baidu’s Apollo Go obtained Level 4 approval in Switzerland, and Verne introduced a Pony.ai robotaxi service in Zagreb.
However, the industry continues to navigate a complex regulatory landscape, with tighter EU vehicle rules consistently raising the compliance bar for manufacturers. Despite these hurdles, the steady accumulation of national approvals indicates a maturing market. Having established a foothold in the Baltics and Finland, Bliq.ai is now targeting Germany, where the company originally started, as its next expansion market.
