Uber rival inDrive partners with Pony.ai and Nvidia for 2027 Central Asia robotaxi tests
The ride-hailing company will deploy Pony.ai Gen-7 autonomous vehicles in Kazakhstan powered by Nvidia's Hyperion compute and Halos safety platform.
Technology news
Global ride-hailing platform inDrive announced a major tripartite partnership with autonomous vehicle developer Pony.ai and silicon giant Nvidia on Friday to launch autonomous robotaxi trials in Central Asia beginning in the first half of 2027.[2]
Under the signed memorandum of understanding, inDrive will integrate Pony.ai's newly engineered Gen-7 robotaxis directly into its consumer ride-hailing application across Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan. The vehicles will be powered by Nvidia's centralized DRIVE Hyperion sensor-and-computing architecture, alongside Nvidia's Halos functional safety system and Alpamayo synthetic simulation software for multi-scenario urban validation. Testing will initially operate with licensed safety operators in the driver's seat before transitioning to fully driverless commercial routes.[2]
The expansion represents a calculated strategy by inDrive to bring autonomous mobility to emerging markets while domestic US and European operators remain locked in costly regulatory battles. inDrive Chief Technology Officer Yuri Misnik emphasized that the company's capital-light model relies on deep hardware partnerships rather than in-house manufacturing, mirroring similar international tests conducted by Uber with Pony.ai in London.[2]
Our take: Deploying Level 4 robotaxis in Central Asia is a bold geographic pivot that highlights the globalization of autonomous driving technology. While Waymo and Cruise have concentrated their capital on tightly geofenced US sunbelt cities, Nvidia's turnkey Hyperion platform is enabling agile global ride-hailing networks to leapfrog years of proprietary hardware R&D and bring driverless fleets to underserved international metros.