Uber and Pony.ai are scaling their robotaxi partnership to more than 2,000 vehicles across Europe. Four unnamed cities join the collaboration, and the companies plan further expansion in the Middle East, with rollout details to be announced in phases.
Every market follows a shared playbook. Pony.ai contributes the Level 4 self-driving system and the operating experience it has gained in China. Uber handles booking, payments, and customer support. Local operators such as Verne in Zagreb run the fleets day to day, while vehicle funding and ownership can vary by market to spread the capital burden.
May 2025 marked the start of the collaboration, when the two firms agreed to bring Pony.ai robotaxis to Uber’s platform internationally. Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service went live in Zagreb on April 8, 2026, with paid rides through the Verne app covering central Zagreb and the airport, and Uber app integration is still pending.
The European push leans on Pony.ai’s record in China, where paid fully driverless services operate at scale. Uber frames the next chapter of autonomous mobility as repeatable commercial scale rather than one-off launches, and this deal represents its largest commitment to that vision in Europe.
