Fully autonomous cars could be on open roads within 5 years, says self-driving start-up Pony.ai CEO

It is only a matter of time before driverless cars take us to work and our children to school, according to James Peng, CEO and co-founder of Pony.ai, a California-based self-driving car start-up. "If I have to give a number, I'll say probably in five years," Peng told CNBC's Deirdre Bosa at the East Tech West conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China. "We'll definitely see a wide adoption of autonomous driving vehicles -- fully autonomous driving vehicles -- on the open roads." That could happen in any part of the world, but Pony.ai has been focusing on the U.S. and China, where the start-up has been testing autonomous vehicles. It recently partnered with Hyundai to introduce an on-demand vehicle service for residents in Irvine, California, where passengers can share autonomous cabs using an app.