EVwire brief: inDrive has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NVIDIA and Pony.ai to bring robotaxis to Kazakhstan, with plans to launch Pony.ai's Gen-7 robotaxis on the inDrive ride-hailing app in Astana, the country's capital. Kazakhstan will be the partnership's first test market.
Pony.ai announced the deal on X:
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Under the MOU, Pony.ai would supply its Gen-7 robotaxis, inDrive would provide the ride-hailing platform and run the service, and NVIDIA would provide its AI infrastructure, including the NVIDIA Hyperion reference sensor and compute platform for Level 4 vehicles and the NVIDIA Halos safety system.
The three companies will evaluate the technical, operational, regulatory and commercial feasibility of offering Level 4-ready robotaxis through the inDrive app. The Astana launch would follow an agreement with the government of Kazakhstan.
The companies picked Kazakhstan after the country created its first structured legal framework for driverless transport, as part of its "Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence." Astana has a population of about 1.7 million, and after the initial launch, the companies will assess expanding to other Kazakh cities and other countries where inDrive operates. inDrive is currently available in more than 1,200 cities across 47 countries.
inDrive founder and CEO Arsen Tomsky noted that Astana's weather will give the robotaxis a real test:
Astana is also the second-coldest capital in the world, with long winters, snow and ice. Launching here will provide an important opportunity to evaluate autonomous driving technology in challenging winter conditions.
Pony.ai founder and CEO James Peng said the company will draw on its experience running driverless robotaxis in China:
Drawing on our experience in scaling fully driverless robotaxi operations in China and expanding into international markets, we look forward to working with inDrive and NVIDIA to explore how our proven technology can be adapted to local needs.
Context:
Kazakhstan would be Pony.ai's first market in Central Asia. In Europe, Pony.ai joined Bolt and Stellantis for a robotaxi pilot in Luxembourg, and it powers the robotaxis of Croatian company Verne, which launched Europe's first paid robotaxi service in Zagreb. In September, Verne and Pony.ai began fully driverless test rides on a 22-kilometer (13.7-mile) route to Zagreb's airport.
Pony.ai has also expanded its work with Uber. The two companies expanded their partnership in August with plans to deploy more than 2,000 Pony.ai robotaxis across Europe, along with plans for the Middle East. That partnership has since reached the UK, with Pony.ai's Gen-7 robotaxis heading to London and Verne starting tests in Manchester.
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Source: inDrive press release, Pony.ai, Pony.ai on X
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