Pony.ai and inDrive Plan Kazakhstan Robotaxi Tests

Pony.ai, the ride-hailing app inDrive and NVIDIA have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore driverless taxis in Kazakhstan, starting in the capital, Astana. Under the agreement, announced on 23 October in releases from Pony.ai and inDrive, the three companies will “evaluate the technical, operational, regulatory and commercial feasibility” of offering Level 4-ready autonomous vehicles through the inDrive app.

That makes it a study, not a service. Neither release gives a start date, a fleet size or any financial terms, and both say the launch “would follow agreement with the government of Kazakhstan”. inDrive’s chief technology officer, Yuri Misnik, told TechCrunch that testing will begin in Astana in the first half of 2027, initially with a safety operator on board.

In brief

Pony.ai, inDrive and NVIDIA have signed an MOU to assess robotaxi rides on the inDrive app in Kazakhstan, beginning in Astana.
It is a feasibility agreement: no date, fleet size or money is given, and launch depends on an agreement with Kazakhstan’s government.
inDrive’s CTO told TechCrunch that tests with a safety operator should start in the first half of 2027.

Each company has a set role, on paper

The releases split the work three ways. Pony.ai would supply its seventh-generation (Gen-7) robotaxis, while “inDrive would provide the ride-hailing platform and run the service”, and NVIDIA would support the project with its AI infrastructure. That infrastructure is NVIDIA’s robotaxi platform, which combines its Hyperion sensor and computing design with the Alpamayo driving software and the Halos safety system.

“With NVIDIA Hyperion and the NVIDIA Halos safety system, inDrive and Pony.ai can explore a path to scalable robotaxi services in Kazakhstan,” said Rishi Dhall, NVIDIA’s vice president of automotive, in the joint statement. Pony.ai’s founder and chief executive, James Peng, said the companies would “explore how our proven technology can be adapted to local needs”.

inDrive, best known for letting riders and drivers negotiate fares, says it operates in more than 1,200 cities in 47 countries and that its app has been downloaded over 400 million times. If the Astana project goes ahead, the companies say they will look at other Kazakh cities and “other countries where inDrive operates”.

Kazakhstan was picked for its new driverless-transport rules

The companies say Kazakhstan “was chosen first for its regulatory readiness following the creation of the country’s first structured legal framework for driverless transport”, part of what the government has called its “Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence”. TechCrunch reports that Kazakhstan announced plans last month to launch autonomous taxi services in 2027, with trials in Astana and two other cities, and that the announcement coincided with NVIDIA chief executive Jensen Huang’s first visit to the country.

inDrive’s founder and chief executive, Arsen Tomsky, pointed to the weather. “Astana is also the second-coldest capital in the world, with long winters, snow and ice,” he said. “Launching here will provide an important opportunity to evaluate autonomous driving technology in challenging winter conditions.”

A ride-hailing app is again leaving the cars to someone else

The arrangement follows a pattern that is now common outside the US and China. Uber does not build robotaxis; it has brought Pony.ai’s Gen-7 cars to London and Manchester for testing, with partners supplying and running the vehicles. Bolt has chosen NVIDIA’s Alpamayo software for a programme that starts with data collection in Madrid, where Waymo also plans to launch. Misnik described inDrive’s approach to TechCrunch as “capital-light by design”.

The difference here is that inDrive’s release says it “would provide the ride-hailing platform and run the service”. Running a robotaxi service usually means depots, charging, cleaning, remote assistance and insurance, and the releases are silent on who would own the cars or pay for that operation. That question, more than the choice of sensors, will decide whether an exploratory MOU becomes a business.

inDrive has signed this kind of agreement before. TechCrunch notes that in December it agreed with Saudi Arabia’s AI Driver to explore vehicles powered by WeRide in Riyadh, targeting a pilot in the first half of 2026, and that it is unclear whether testing has started. A second MOU does not show the first one worked.

Snow is a test the releases leave unanswered

Tomsky’s winter argument cuts both ways. The joint release says Pony.ai’s 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”. Neither release cites any data on how the Gen-7 system handles heavy snow or ice, which is what Astana would test. If Pony.ai can show results there, it would strengthen its case in other cold-climate cities; if it cannot, the delay will show up in when safety operators leave the cars.

For Pony.ai, Kazakhstan adds to a fast-growing list of foreign announcements. According to TechCrunch, the company aims to have more than 3,500 robotaxis operating in over 20 cities by the end of 2026, up from 1,975 vehicles at the end of June. Several of the newer markets, including London, are still at the testing stage.

The next marker is an agreement with Kazakhstan’s government, which both releases make a condition of launch. After that, the first half of 2027 is when inDrive says the first cars, with safety operators aboard, should appear on Astana’s roads.