ZAGREB, Croatia, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pony AI Inc. ("Pony.ai") (NASDAQ: PONY; HKEX: 2026), a global leader in the large-scale commercialization of autonomous driving technology, and Verne today announced the start of fully driverless Robotaxi test rides with passengers on public roads in Zagreb, marking a European first. The milestone represents a significant step toward fully driverless commercial operations.
The test rides take place along a 22-kilometer route linking Verne's headquarters and one of Zagreb's main business districts with Franjo Tuđman Airport Zagreb. The fully driverless routes will be further expanded in the next few months, with the aim to cover the whole operating area in Zagreb.
The milestone comes just over five months after Pony.ai, Verne and Uber announced their partnership to launch Europe's first commercial Robotaxi service. Under the joint deployment model, Pony.ai provides the autonomous driving technology, Verne leads the service operations, and Uber offers access to the service through its platform. Since the service operated by Verne was launched in early April, the fleet has logged more than 200,000 kilometers in operations, completed several thousand customer rides and achieved an average passenger rating of 4.7 out of 5.
Moving from commercial operations with an onboard AV operator to fully driverless testing represents an important step for both Pony.ai and Verne. It demonstrates Pony.ai's ability to apply technology and operational experience from its fully driverless commercial services in China to real-world deployment in Europe, supported by Verne's operational readiness and work to meet regulatory requirements.
"Fully driverless passenger rides in Zagreb mark an important step in Pony.ai's international growth," said Dr. James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai. "Together with Verne, we are demonstrating how Pony.ai's Virtual Driver can combine with Verne's local operating and passenger-service capabilities to support a scalable path to commercialization. The progress in Zagreb provides a strong foundation for expanding fully driverless mobility across Europe and other international markets."
"Five months ago, we launched Europe's first commercial Robotaxi service. We are now taking the next step, moving from autonomous driving with an onboard AV operator toward fully driverless operations," said Marko Pejković, CEO of Verne. "This is a major milestone on the path to scaling autonomous mobility in Europe."
The test rides use Pony.ai's seventh-generation Robotaxi, powered by a Pony.ai-developed L4 domain controller built on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX, running on the safety-certified DriveOS operating system. The Robotaxi features a safety architecture combining 360-degree sensor coverage with multiple layers of redundancy and fail-operational capabilities. This architecture has been validated through fully driverless commercial operations in major Chinese cities across complex urban traffic and adverse weather conditions. Pony.ai currently 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.
The fully driverless rides in Zagreb are being conducted in accordance with applicable Croatian regulations and the approvals required for autonomous vehicle testing with passengers on public roads.
The milestone further advances Pony.ai's "dual-engine" growth strategy, under which the company is scaling its Robotaxi business across both China and international markets. Overseas, Pony.ai is expanding through its joint deployment model, which brings together autonomous driving technology, access to rider demand and day-to-day fleet operations. The mix of partners can vary by market, allowing the model to adapt to local requirements while supporting a more capital-efficient path to scale. Recent partnerships have expanded Pony.ai's overseas deployment pipeline to more than 4,000 Robotaxis, including plans with Uber to deploy more than 2,000 vehicles across Europe. Pony.ai is targeting a global fleet of more than 3,500 Robotaxis by the end of 2026, with operations spanning more than 20 cities worldwide.
About Pony.ai
Pony AI Inc. is a global leader in achieving large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility. Leveraging its vehicle-agnostic Virtual Driver technology, a full-stack autonomous driving technology that seamlessly integrates Pony.ai's proprietary software, hardware, and services, Pony.ai is developing a commercially viable and sustainable business model that enables the mass production and deployment of vehicles across transportation use cases. Founded in 2016, Pony.ai has expanded its presence across China, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and other regions, ensuring widespread accessibility to its advanced technology.
About Verne
Named after Jules Verne, who imagined journeys enabled by technologies long before they existed, Verne is building the operational layer for autonomous mobility in Europe and beyond. Since 2019, Verne has worked on deploying autonomous ride-hailing in complex urban environments through operations, integration and regulatory enablement, making it part of everyday life. In April 2026, those efforts led to the launch of Europe's first robotaxi service. At its core, Verne designs how autonomous mobility works and how it feels, keeping the human in mind.
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Im Magdeburger Landtag steht ein Einschnitt in der bundesdeutschen Parlamentsgeschichte bevor: Erstmals könnte ein Abgeordneter der AfD das Amt des Landtagspräsidenten übernehmen. Der 35-jährige Tobias Rausch, seit 2016 Mitglied des Landtags von Sachsen-Anhalt und Generalsekretär der AfD im Bundesland, geht mit einer komfortablen Mehrheit in die konstituierende Sitzung. Nach ihrem klaren Wahlsieg stellt die AfD künftig 39 der 83 Abgeordneten und ist damit die mit Abstand stärkste Fraktion.
Den entscheidenden Schub liefert das Bündnis mit dem Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW). Die fünf BSW-Abgeordneten wollen geschlossen für Rausch stimmen und kommen gemeinsam mit der AfD auf 44 Stimmen. BSW-Fraktionschef Thomas Schulze verweist auf parlamentarische Gepflogenheiten: Als stärkste Fraktion habe die AfD laut Geschäftsordnung Anspruch auf den Vorsitz im Parlament. Eine politische Blockbildung gegen die AfD lehnt Schulze ab und präsentiert die Zustimmung zur Wahl des Landtagspräsidenten als Signal eines „neuen Politikstils“.
Die übrigen Fraktionen reagieren gespalten. CDU, SPD, Grüne und Linke verfügen zusammen ebenfalls über 39 Mandate, treten aber nicht geschlossen gegen die AfD an. Die CDU hat angekündigt, sich bei der Wahl zu enthalten – Enthaltungen zählen in diesem Verfahren nicht als abgegebene Stimmen. SPD, Grüne und Linke wollen gegen Rausch stimmen. Spannend bleibt damit vor allem die Frage, ob der AfD-Kandidat über die absehbaren 44 Ja-Stimmen hinaus zusätzliche Unterstützung erhält. Vor der geheimen Abstimmung spekulieren die Lager bereits über mögliche Abweichler; aus der AfD-Spitze heißt es, zusätzliche Stimmen könnten auch aus dem Kreis der erklärten Gegner stammen.
Parallel zur Präsidentenwahl testet die AfD aus, wie weit ihr neuer Einfluss im Landtag reicht. Die Fraktion will die Geschäftsordnung ändern, um neben dem Präsidenten auch einen der drei Vizepräsidentenposten zu besetzen – vorgesehen ist der Abgeordnete Hans-Thomas Tillschneider. In der Vergangenheit sorgten seine Beiträge zur Bildungs- und Kulturpolitik regelmäßig für Kritik in anderen Fraktionen, die den Personalvorschlag daher als Provokation werten dürften. Ob das BSW diese Personalie ebenso mitträgt wie die Wahl von Rausch, ist bislang offen. Unabhängig vom Ausgang der Abstimmungen wird die erste Sitzung des neu gewählten Landtags damit zum Testfall für künftige Zusammenarbeit und Machtarithmetik in Sachsen-Anhalt.
