Pony.ai and Uber said Thursday night that they plan to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across five European cities, turning a single-city commercial service in Zagreb into a much larger regional test of autonomous ride-hailing.
The number is firm, but much of the rollout is not. Zagreb is the only city the companies named. Four additional European markets, their launch dates and the division of fleet ownership were not disclosed. The expanded agreement also covers future robotaxi deployments in the Middle East.
Pony.ai will provide its Level 4 autonomous-driving system, rider experience and operating expertise. Uber will handle booking, payment and customer service through its platform, while local fleet partners may own vehicles and run day-to-day operations. That structure lets the companies enter markets without requiring one partner to fund and manage every part of the service.
The scale is the real test
The partners already have a working model in Croatia. Pony.ai, Uber and Rimac Group affiliate Verne launched a commercial service in Zagreb in spring 2026, with Verne serving as fleet owner and operator. The vehicles are available through Verne, and the companies say Uber-platform access is coming soon.
Moving from one operating city to five would test whether that model can be repeated across different regulators, road networks and fleet operators. A 2,000-vehicle target is also large enough to make availability, utilization and operating cost more meaningful than in a small pilot. It does not, by itself, establish that every vehicle will launch at once or operate without restrictions.
European Union rules set technical specifications and approval procedures for automated-driving systems in fully automated passenger vehicles, including services confined to a predefined area or route. The current announcement does not identify which vehicle approvals, local operating permissions or market-specific conditions are already in place for the four unnamed cities.
What remains unresolved
The biggest missing detail is geography. Without the next four cities, riders, drivers and local officials cannot yet assess where the service might compete with taxis and app-based drivers, which streets would be covered or how quickly regulators will review it.
Funding is another open question. Pony.ai said vehicle ownership can sit with different partners depending on the market, and established local fleet companies may handle operations. That makes the model flexible, but it also means the 2,000-vehicle goal depends on agreements that have not been described publicly.
The companies also did not provide a deadline for reaching the full fleet target. Their announcement describes a planned deployment, not 2,000 vehicles already in service. That distinction matters in an industry where public-road testing, limited commercial service and broad availability can be very different milestones.
What to watch next
The first concrete checkpoint is Zagreb's promised arrival on the Uber app. After that, the naming of a second city would reveal how the partners intend to adapt the Croatian model and which local operator will take responsibility for the fleet.
Pony.ai is scheduled to report second-quarter and interim 2026 results on Tuesday, August 18. Investors will be listening for details about fleet financing, deployment timing and whether the European expansion changes the company's operating targets.
For riders, the practical question is not simply whether 2,000 robotaxis are planned. It is when a bookable service appears in a named city, under a regulator's rules, with a clearly identified operator responsible for the vehicles.
