inDrive and Pony.ai Announce Collaboration to Explore Autonomous Mobility in Kazakhstan Built on NVIDIA Hyperion

inDrive, the global mobility and delivery platform, today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NVIDIA and Pony.ai, a global leader in the large-scale commercialization of autonomous driving technology, to explore the future of autonomous ride-hailing. Kazakhstan will serve as the first test market.

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Kazakhstan was chosen first for its regulatory readiness following the creation of the country’s first structured legal framework for driverless transport, as part of its “Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence.” Combined with Kazakhstan’s position as a leading Central Asian economy, this gives the companies a clear basis to assess autonomous ride-hailing in practice.

The three companies will evaluate the technical, operational, regulatory and commercial feasibility of offering level 4-ready autonomous vehicles to riders through the inDrive app in Kazakhstan. Pony.ai would provide its seventh-generation (Gen-7) robotaxis, inDrive would provide the ride-hailing platform and run the service, while NVIDIA would support the project with NVIDIA AI infrastructure.

The NVIDIA Hyperion is a reference sensor and compute platform for Level 4 autonomous vehicles and robotaxis. The NVIDIA robotaxi platform combines NVIDIA Hyperion with Alpamayo Stack and Halos full-stack safety system to accelerate safe, production-ready autonomy.

inDrive and Pony.ai plan to launch robotaxis in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, using Pony.ai's Gen-7 robotaxis. Pony.ai’s Level 4 autonomous driving technology has been validated through fully driverless commercial operations in major Chinese cities, as well as real-world deployments across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Gen-7 robotaxi incorporates multi-sensor fusion, system-level redundancy and fail-operational capabilities to support safe and reliable driverless operations. The launch would follow an agreement with the government of Kazakhstan.

Astana, one of Central Asia’s fastest-growing capitals, offers a promising environment for autonomous ride-hailing. With a population of approximately 1.7 million and growing demand for urban transportation, the city presents opportunities for robotaxis to complement existing mobility services and offer residents more convenient travel options. Combined with inDrive’s established presence in Kazakhstan, the initiative could provide a foundation for exploring autonomous mobility in other markets across the region. Following the initial launch in Astana, the companies will assess whether the approach could be extended to other cities in Kazakhstan as well as other countries where inDrive operates.

Arsen Tomsky, Founder and CEO of inDrive, said: "Autonomous mobility has the potential to make transportation more affordable and accessible in the cities we serve. Partnering with NVIDIA and Pony.ai, we want to understand, carefully and responsibly, how this technology could fit Kazakhstan's roads and communities - and what it could mean for riders and drivers across our markets. Kazakhstan’s forward-looking approach to regulating autonomous vehicles creates the environment to do that, and that could serve as a model for other markets. In addition, 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. Success in Astana could offer valuable insights for expanding autonomous mobility to other locations facing similar challenges.”

“Kazakhstan represents an exciting opportunity to bring autonomous mobility to a new market in Central Asia,” said Dr. James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai, “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. This collaboration marks another step toward our vision of making autonomous mobility accessible to more people around the world.”

“Bringing autonomous mobility to more communities requires AI built for the complexity of real-world driving, with safety at its foundation,” said Rishi Dhall, Vice President of automotive at NVIDIA. “With NVIDIA Hyperion and the NVIDIA Halos safety system, inDrive and Pony.ai can explore a path to scalable robotaxi services in Kazakhstan, combining autonomous driving technology with a platform that connects millions of riders.”

About inDrive

inDrive is a global mobility and delivery platform. The inDrive app has been downloaded over 400 million times, and has been named the second most downloaded ride-hailing app. In addition to ride-hailing, inDrive provides an expanding list of services, including intercity transportation, delivery, and financial services. In 2023, inDrive launched New Ventures, a venture and M&A arm.

inDrive operates in over 1200 cities in 47 countries. Driven by its mission to challenge Injustice through fair choices, inDrive is committed to having a positive impact on people’s lives. It pursues this goal both through its core business, which supports local communities via a fair pricing model; and through the work of its impact programs.

About Pony AI Inc.

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, Asia, the Middle East and other regions, ensuring widespread access to its advanced technology.

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