China's Pony.ai, Uber Aim to Deploy Over 2,000 Robotaxis in Europe

Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai has teamed up with global ride-hailing giant Uber to deploy more than 2,000 self-driving taxis, or robotaxis, in Europe.

Pony.ai announced through its official WeChat account today (August 14) that it plans to expand its strategic cooperation with Uber to deploy robotaxis to four additional European cities.

The two companies established a partnership in May of last year and have been operating robotaxi services in Zagreb since May of this year.

With the execution of the additional deployment plan, the number of European cities operating robotaxis will increase to five.

The specific service cities and vehicle deployment schedules will be disclosed step by step at a later date.

The European operations will be managed in a way where Pony.ai provides the Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving system and robotaxi operation experience, while Uber handles ride-hailing, payment, and customer service.

Daily management and operation of the vehicles will be handled by local partners selected by both companies.

Pony.ai stated, "This expansion of cooperation is an important milestone in pursuing our global growth strategy," expressing expectations that it will serve as an opportunity to commercialize robotaxis on a large scale in Europe.

The two companies plan to expand their cooperation not only in Europe but also in the Middle East.

Chinese autonomous driving companies are accelerating their expansion into overseas markets following stricter safety reviews by Chinese authorities.

In China, a mass breakdown of Baidu robotaxis, known as Apollo Go, occurred in Wuhan last March, and following this, authorities tightened safety reviews, suspending the issuance of robotaxi-related licenses for several months.

Although license issuance has since resumed, the pace of approval has slowed, impacting the deployment of new vehicles and prompting Chinese autonomous driving firms, including Pony.ai, to turn their eyes toward overseas markets.

Pony.ai is one of China's representative autonomous driving companies and currently operates robotaxis in major Chinese cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.