Public-road, fully driverless robotaxi passenger tests began in Zagreb, Croatia, on a 22-kilometer route between Verne’s headquarters, a major business district, and Zagreb Airport, marking a significant milestone on September 10, 2026.

The move reflects Pony.ai’s dual-engine growth plan to scale through international deployments alongside its China operations, using a joint deployment model with local partners to meet regulatory requirements.

This initiative builds on a five-month Uber partnership in which Pony.ai supplies autonomous driving tech, Verne handles operations, and Uber provides access through its platform, with over 200,000 kilometers driven and thousands of rides at an average 4.7/5 passenger rating.

The Zagreb trial is a European first in fully driverless passenger rides on public roads, following earlier robotaxi tests with onboard operators.

Pony.ai aims to expand overseas via partnerships, with a pipeline of more than 4,000 robotaxis and plans with Uber to deploy over 2,000 vehicles in Europe, targeting a global fleet over 3,500 by end-2026 across more than 20 cities.

The Zagreb vehicle is a seventh-generation Pony.ai robotaxi powered by an NVIDIA DRIVE AGX-based L4 domain controller, 360-degree sensors, and a redundant, fail-operational safety stack, validated by extensive driverless operation in Chinese cities totaling over 100 million autonomous kilometers.

Operations in Zagreb proceed under Croatian autonomous-vehicle testing regulations, with plans to expand routes in the coming months to cover the broader Zagreb area.