Uber is partnering with autonomous driving tech company Pony.ai and Verne to launch a commercial robotaxi service in Europe.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, which is also investing in Verne to support future expansion, said an ecosystem of partnerships could provide the framework to scale autonomous mobility.
“By bringing together Pony.ai’s proven autonomous driving technology, Verne’s operational and market expertise and Uber’s global platform, we’re taking an important step toward making autonomous ride-hailing available to more riders in more places,” Khosrowshahi said.
The ride-share giant said service in Zagreb should start soon, though it did not provide an exact start date.
Work tied to initial deployment has begun, including public-road validation and preparations for fare charging. The companies have started on-road testing in Zagreb pairing Pony.ai’s Gen-7 autonomous driving system with the Arcfox Alpha T5 Robotaxi.
In addition to ensuring market readiness, Verne will obtain European regulatory approval and coordinate Pony.ai rollout across Verne and Uber’s networks.
The partnership approach will ensure “consistent performance, safety and experience” while offering a scalable framework, Uber said. Over time, the group aims to potentially expand into other cities in Europe and additional markets. The trio aims to grow its robotaxi fleet to thousands over the next few years.
Uber has been aggressive in its autonomous ride efforts. The company said in February that it intends to become a major facilitator of autonomous vehicle trips across the world.
Among its recent moves, the company announced last week it was partnering with Rivian to deploy up to 50,000 autonomous robotaxis. Uber also said it would invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031 depending on performance, with an initial $300 million investment already made.
Also last week, Uber and Nvidia announced an expansion of their partnership. The two plan to launch a fleet of Nvidia software-powered autonomous vehicles with initial deployments in Los Angeles and San Francisco starting early next year and scaling in 28 cities around the world by 2028.
Last month, Uber announced a partnership with Zoox to launch robotaxis on its app. And in January, Uber provided funding for and partnered with Waabi and Uber, Nuro and Lucid announced on-road robotaxi testing. In December, Uber announced plans to launch robotaxis with Baidu in London—Lyft announced a separate partnership with Baidu at the same time. And, in October, Uber and WeRide launched robotaxi rides in Saudi Arabia.