Pony.ai and Verne Open Fully Driverless Test Rides in Zagreb

ZAGREB — Pony.ai and local partner Verne have started fully driverless robotaxi test rides with passengers on public roads in Zagreb. Invited riders can take trips along a 22-kilometer route.

The vehicles are Pony.ai’s seventh-generation robotaxi, using a Pony.ai Level 4 domain controller built on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX and running DriveOS. Pony.ai said the safety architecture combines 360-degree sensor coverage with redundant, fail-operational systems already used in fully driverless commercial service in major Chinese cities.

Pony.ai said it operates fully driverless commercial services in four major Chinese cities and has logged more than 100 million kilometers in autonomous operations worldwide, including over 40 million kilometers in fully driverless mode. Overseas, it has pointed to a pipeline of more than 4,000 robotaxis, including plans with Uber for more than 2,000 vehicles across Europe, and a year-end 2026 target of more than 3,500 robotaxis in more than 20 cities.

The Zagreb rides are tests for invited passengers, not an open public app launch. They follow Pony.ai’s paid Doha service through the Karwa app and a June 30 fleet count of 1,975 robotaxis.

Li Wei, China desk. Li Wei is a senior correspondent covering Chinese AV stacks, Apollo, and overseas expansion. Previously covered autos and tech for regional wires; based in Shanghai.