Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai and ride-hailing giant Uber plan to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across Europe, expanding an existing partnership that launched in Croatia. According to a company statement reported by Reuters on August 14, the collaboration will extend beyond Zagreb into four unnamed European cities and markets in the Middle East.
Expansion from Zagreb to Broader European Markets
The partnership builds on a commercial robotaxi service that began in May 2025 in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. According to reporting by The Verge, Uber is joining forces with Pony.ai and Croatian fleet manager Verne—a spin-off of supercar maker Rimac—to establish what the companies claim will be Europe’s first commercially available robotaxi service.
Under the terms of the corporate agreement, Uber provides its customer base and ride-hailing network, Verne manages vehicle fleets on the ground, and Pony.ai supplies the autonomous driving technology stack. Current street validations in Zagreb utilize Pony.ai’s Arcfox Alpha T5 Robotaxi, equipped with the company’s 7th-generation technology stack and jointly developed with state-owned Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC).
Strategic Stakes in the Robotaxi Sector
According to industry reporting by The Verge, the alliance represents Uber’s ongoing strategy to shield its core ride-hailing business from potential financial disruption as autonomous vehicles scale globally. Over the past year, Uber has partnered with multiple autonomous vehicle developers to assure investors of its competitive viability in an impending driverless era.
While the initial rollout concentrates on Zagreb, the expanded agreement with Pony.ai sets a target of deploying over 2,000 vehicles, scaling up the fleet to thousands of robotaxis over the next few years. Reuters noted that the joint statement from Pony.ai did not provide a specific timeline for when the European rollout across the four new cities or the Middle Eastern expansion will be fully completed.