Pony.ai, Uber, and Verne Partner on Europe’s First Commercial Robotaxi Service

• The three companies formed a partnership to deploy a commercial robotaxi service in Europe, starting in Zagreb.
• The companies describe the rollout as the first commercial robotaxi service in Europe, with testing already underway.

Pony.ai, Uber, and Verne announced a partnership to launch a commercial robotaxi service in Europe, with Zagreb as the initial market. The collaboration brings together autonomous driving technology, fleet operations, and a ride-hailing platform into a single service offering, with preparations for fare-charging services underway.

“Partnering with Uber and Verne represents an important milestone as we continue to expand autonomous mobility globally,” said Dr. James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai, in a news release. “In China, our Gen-7 has achieved meaningful commercial scale, including unit economics breakeven in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, demonstrating the readiness of our technology and business model. By leveraging this experience, we are well-positioned to accelerate commercialization internationally, combining our technology with Uber’s global platform and Verne’s role in enabling multi-market deployment, to build a scalable and sustainable autonomous mobility ecosystem.”

The service is being tested on public roads in Zagreb using Pony.ai’s Gen-7 autonomous driving system on the Arcfox Alpha T5 Robotaxi. Pony.ai provides the driving system, Verne acts as fleet owner and operator while leading regulatory approval, and Uber integrates the service into its ride-hailing network alongside Verne’s platform.

The companies plan to expand into additional cities and grow the fleet to thousands of robotaxis over the next few years. As part of the partnership, Uber intends to invest in Verne to support future expansion. Pony.ai also pointed to prior commercial progress with its Gen-7 system, including reaching unit economics breakeven in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

🌀 Tom’s Take:

This partnership lays out a clear operating model for scaling robotaxis, with each company owning a distinct layer of the stack. It’s a structure designed to be repeated across cities, not built as a one-off launch.

Source: Pony.ai