Uber and Pony.ai Expand Robotaxi Partnership Amidst Autonomous Push
The expanded deal builds on a May 2025 agreement, extending services from Zagreb to four unnamed European cities, as Uber seeks to improve margins and compete with rivals like Waymo.
Pony.ai announced on 14 August 2026 that it will deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across Europe under an expanded partnership with Uber. The collaboration, which traces back to May 2025, marks a significant scaling of autonomous vehicle operations for both companies. The service will expand from its current commercial footprint in Zagreb, Croatia, to four additional unnamed European cities, with future plans to enter the Middle East.
The strategic move underscores Uber’s reliance on external technology to drive growth. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has outlined a model where partners like Pony.ai provide the hardware and software, while Uber supplies its vast user base. Uber intends to commit approximately $10 billion to its autonomous vehicle partners over the coming years to support this expansion. Autonomous vehicles currently operate in seven cities, with Khosrowshahi signalling potential expansion to 15 cities by the end of 2026.
For Uber, the shift towards autonomy is largely a margin play. In the second quarter, the platform processed $58 billion in gross bookings, with $25 billion paid to its 10.2 million drivers, representing the single largest cost on the books. Every autonomous mile that removes a driver from the equation pushes more revenue toward Uber’s bottom line without the company needing to build or own self-driving cars itself.
The core business continues to show resilience alongside these technological bets. Uber added more first-time users over the past year than in any twelve-month period in the last five years. Monthly active consumers grew 16% year-over-year, and trips rose 18%. Delivery revenue, now more than a third of total sales, grew 28% year-over-year, while transportation revenue grew just 1%. Non-GAAP net income climbed 29% to $1.6 billion, representing an 11.6% margin.
Despite the ambitious plans, the announcement left notable gaps. Pony.ai provided no timeline for when the robotaxis would hit European roads, and the specific cities beyond Zagreb remained unnamed. The competitive landscape is already crowded, with Alphabet’s Waymo completing more than 500,000 paid autonomous trips weekly across 11 US cities. Meanwhile, Uber’s stock has slid roughly 8% year-to-date, leaving its price-to-sales ratio at 2.8, well under its 4.1 average since going public in 2019.
Institutional sentiment reflects this mixed outlook. Hedge fund ownership of Uber slipped from 153 to 147 funds last quarter, while ownership of Pony.ai climbed from 23 to 31. Short interest stands at 2.41% for Uber and 6.57% for Pony.ai, suggesting greater skepticism toward the smaller autonomous vehicle specialist. Uber currently trades at 22.68 times forward earnings, a multiple that assumes its delivery and autonomous strategies continue to deliver returns.
