If you hailed a driverless taxi in Zagreb this spring, you were among the first fare-paying passengers to do so anywhere in Europe. Now the companies behind that service want to replicate it across the continent — and eventually into the Middle East.
Chinese autonomous vehicle firm Pony.ai and US ride-hailing giant Uber announced on 13–14 August 2026 that they plan to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across Europe under an expanded strategic partnership. The deal extends their existing operation in Zagreb, Croatia, to four additional European cities, with further deployments planned for the Middle East. Neither the target cities nor any completion timeline were disclosed; details will be announced in phases.
The division of labour follows a clear pattern. Pony.ai supplies Level 4 autonomous driving technology — meaning the vehicle can handle all driving tasks without human intervention under defined conditions. Uber provides its global platform for booking, payment, and customer service. Local fleet operators in each market handle day-to-day vehicle operations.
How the Zagreb model is meant to travel
The Zagreb service, which the companies describe as the first fare-charging commercial robotaxi operation in Europe, launched in late March 2026. It is run by Verne, a Croatian mobility start-up that acted as the local fleet owner and operator. Uber invested in Verne and is a strategic partner in its growth, while Pony.ai supplies the autonomous driving system.
Verne led market readiness and secured the necessary regulatory approvals for public-road operations in Zagreb. A similar local-operator model is expected for each subsequent city, with each new market requiring its own regulatory clearance.
The sequence — public-road validation, then a fare-charging launch with a local partner, then integration into Uber's app — appears to be the template the companies intend to follow elsewhere. As of the August 2026 announcement, the Zagreb service had not yet been integrated into the Uber app; that step was still pending.
The Pony.ai–Uber relationship goes back to May 2025, when the two companies first announced plans to bring Pony.ai robotaxis onto the Uber platform in international markets. The August announcement represents the most concrete expansion of that plan to date, though many of the specifics remain unresolved. The four additional European cities have not been named. The local fleet partners for those markets have not been identified. The financial terms of the expanded deal have not been disclosed. And it is not yet clear which Middle East markets are being targeted or what safety arrangements will apply there.
Uber has positioned itself as a commercialisation platform for autonomous vehicle operators rather than a developer of self-driving technology itself, partnering with multiple robotaxi firms globally. Pony.ai, listed on both the Nasdaq stock exchange (ticker: PONY) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is one of China's leading autonomous driving companies.
The 2,000-vehicle figure is a target, not a fleet already on the road. How quickly it is reached — and in which cities — will depend on regulatory processes that have moved at very different speeds across European jurisdictions.
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