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Pony.ai operates paid, fully driverless services. Robotaxi services in China’s four major cities have reached a point where they cover their costs across different areas, proving that Pony.ai’s model for running robotaxis on a large scale is financially viable.

“For Pony.ai, the expanded partnership with Uber marks a further evolution of its growth strategy, complementing continued expansion into new markets with fleet deployments at a regional scale. The collaboration dates back to May 2025, when Pony.ai and Uber first announced plans to bring Pony.ai Robotaxis onto the Uber platform in international markets. In 2026, the companies worked with Croatian mobility company Verne to launch Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, with Verne serving as the local fleet owner and operator,” said Founder and CEO Dr. James Peng.

“This expanded agreement marks an important new phase in the partnership between Pony.ai and Uber. It reflects our shared commitment to bringing safe, reliable Robotaxi services to more European cities. By combining Pony.ai’s proven autonomous driving technology and operational know-how with Uber’s global mobility platform and extensive market reach, we aim to build sustained commercial operations at scale across Europe and beyond,” he added further.

“The next chapter for autonomous mobility is about moving from individual launches to repeatable commercial scale. Together with Pony.ai, we’re combining advanced autonomous technology with Uber’s hybrid platform, on-the-ground experience, and operational excellence to build a model that can quickly and reliably expand across cities,” noted Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber.

Pony AI has emerged as a global leader in achieving large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility. Leveraging its vehicle-agnostic “hardware,Driver technology,” a full-stack autonomous driving technology that seamlessly integrates Pony.ai’s proprietary software, hardware and services, the Chinese company is developing a commercially viable and sustainable business model that enables the mass production and deployment of vehicles across transportation use cases.

Founded in 2016, Pony.ai has expanded its presence across China, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and other regions, ensuring widespread access to its advanced technology.

The tie-up with Uber also comes at a time when the latter is planning to spend more than USD 10 billion on robotaxis over the coming years, while holding Google Waymo as one of the important partners.

As per Uber, its investments in robotaxis would largely comprise equity investments in autonomous-driving partners and balance-sheet support for fleet operations and vehicle commitments.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, during a recent conference call with analysts, brushed off reports of Waymo considering ending their partnership, saying he expected the companies to continue operating together in Austin and Atlanta, while the ride-hailing company expanded ties with other autonomous vehicle developers.

Uber forecast third-quarter gross bookings of USD 58.25 billion to USD 60.25 billion, broadly in line with analysts’ expectations of USD 59.21 billion, according to ⁠data compiled by LSEG.

The company’s Q2 gross bookings of USD 58.02 ⁠billion topped analysts’ estimates of USD 57.06 billion, while adjusted core earnings also exceeded expectations.

The business benefited from broad-based demand across regions and services during the quarter, including travel linked to the FIFA World ⁠Cup.