China-based autonomous mobility company Pony.ai and Uber Technologies announced a strategic partnership to deploy Pony.ai’s Robotaxis onto the Uber platform.
The partnership is expected to first launch in a key market in the Middle East later this year, with a goal of scaling deployments to additional international markets in the future. Once available, when a rider requests a qualifying ride on the Uber app, they may be presented with the option to have their trip fulfilled by a Pony.ai autonomous vehicle. During the initial pilot phase, these vehicles will have a safety operator onboard, until the companies’ fully autonomous commercial launch.
This is a key step in Pony.ai’s global expansion strategy, leveraging its established ecosystem to showcase robust technological readiness. Pony.ai’s seventh-generation autonomous driving system facilitates the mass production of Robotaxis on a more scalable and cost-effective basis. This technological advancement aligns with the strategic goals of the partnership, empowering Uber’s platform to more quickly and safely integrate autonomous vehicles as the collaboration expands to new markets.
In a related news, Uber and WeRide announced a significant expansion of their previously announced strategic partnership, adding 15 additional cities globally over the next five years, including in Europe.
This expanded partnership accelerates WeRide and Uber’s shared goal of making autonomous mobility a global reality, with both companies leading the way in delivering cutting-edge technology.
Following a successful launch in Abu Dhabi and soon Dubai, the companies have committed to expanding their autonomous vehicle partnership to several new cities each year, all outside of the US and China. In these cities, WeRide’s Robotaxi services will be available through the Uber app, and Uber will be responsible for fleet operations.
Uber recently announced deals with self-driving technology companies May Mobility and Momenta. Last year, the company also expanded its tie-up with Google’s Waymo.
[source: Pony.ai, WeRide]
