Pony.ai, Nvidia and inDrive Explore Deploying Gen 7 Autonomous Vehicles in Kazakhstan
Key Facts
Pony.ai signed a memorandum of understanding with inDrive and Nvidia to explore offering autonomous ride-hailing services in Kazakhstan, according to a company statement. The parties selected Kazakhstan as the first test market, placing the service project within the company's international expansion plans. Pony.ai attributed the choice to the country's regulatory readiness and its legal framework for driverless transport. The companies will assess the service's technical, operational, regulatory and commercial feasibility before proceeding with the proposed concept. Under that concept, Pony.ai would provide seventh-generation robotaxis, while inDrive would provide the app and operate the service. Nvidia would support the project with AI infrastructure, bringing together vehicles, a ride-hailing platform and the technical infrastructure needed to develop the service.
Nvidia's robotaxi platform combines sensing, computing, software and safety components, according to the agreement announcement. The platform includes the Hyperion sensing and computing system. It also includes the Alpamayo suite among its technical components. The configuration is rounded out by the integrated Halos safety system. According to the statement, the system aims to accelerate the development of production-ready autonomous driving technologies.
The technical collaboration builds on a relationship between Pony.ai and Nvidia dating back to 2017, according to an earlier company statement about a controller developed jointly with its partner. In that statement, Pony.ai described itself as an "Nvidia partner since 2017". The announced controller is based on the Drive Hyperion platform and uses Drive AGX Thor and NVLink technologies. The controller aims to improve computing capabilities, energy efficiency and reliability. The applications it is designed to support include delivery, logistics and mining, alongside the company's autonomous transport operations.
As part of its international partnerships, Pony.ai announced an expansion of its collaboration with Uber through a plan to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis in Europe. The deployment plan covers 5 European cities, according to the company's announcement on the expanded collaboration. The company also has commercial experience in Doha, where it launched a pilot service in December 2025. That service allowed passengers to book rides through the Karwa app. The pilot began with trained safety operators inside the vehicles, according to the company's update on its Doha operations.
On the financial front, Pony.ai's total revenue reached $36.2 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 68.8% from the same period a year earlier. Robotaxi services revenue reached $12.1 million, an increase of 691.2% year on year, according to its earnings disclosure. The company attributed growth in the business to the launch of its seventh-generation fleet and the expansion of commercial operations. It also attributed the growth to increased vehicle deployments with partners. The company posted a net loss of $45.4 million in the same quarter, alongside rising revenue and an expansion of its autonomous transport business.
Pony.ai's global robotaxi fleet reached 1,975 vehicles by the end of June 2026, according to its second-quarter earnings disclosure. The figure includes the vehicles disclosed by the company across its global operations. In the stock market, its shares were added to the securities eligible for the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect programme. Eligibility took effect on 4 June 2026, according to the company's announcement on joining the programme. The inclusion allows eligible mainland Chinese investors to trade the company's shares through Stock Connect.
Pony.ai and inDrive plan to launch the proposed service in Astana after reaching an agreement with Kazakhstan's government, according to the memorandum of understanding announcement. They then intend to assess the possibility of expanding the service to other cities in the country. The potential expansion also covers other markets where inDrive operates. Under its global plan, Pony.ai aims to exceed 3,500 robotaxis by the end of 2026, according to its update on operations in Zagreb. The company plans to announce its third-quarter 2026 results on Wednesday, 18 November 2026, before the U.S. market opens.