BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 29. Ride-hailing
platform inDrive, autonomous driving technology company Pony.ai and
NVIDIA have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the
introduction of robotaxis in Kazakhstan, with Astana selected as
the potential first deployment location, according to inDrive.
Under the agreement, the three companies will assess the
technical, operational, regulatory and commercial feasibility of
offering autonomous ride-hailing services through the inDrive app.
Kazakhstan will serve as the first test market for the
initiative.
Pony.ai would provide its seventh-generation (Gen-7) robotaxis,
inDrive would provide the ride-hailing platform and operate the
service, while NVIDIA would support the project with its artificial
intelligence infrastructure.
The proposed robotaxi service would use NVIDIA Hyperion, a
reference sensor and computing platform for Level 4 autonomous
vehicles, together with the NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack and NVIDIA Halos
full-stack safety system. The collaboration aims to establish a
roadmap for introducing robotaxis through the inDrive platform,
with a launch in Astana subject to an agreement with the government
of Kazakhstan.
According to inDrive, Kazakhstan was selected because of its
regulatory readiness following the establishment of the country's
first structured legal framework for driverless transport. The
companies will also assess how autonomous vehicles perform in local
conditions, including Astana's long winters, snow and ice.
"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,” inDrive founder and CEO Arsen Tomsky said.
Pony.ai founder and CEO James Peng said the company would draw
on its experience in scaling fully driverless robotaxi operations
in major Chinese cities and expanding into international markets to
explore how its technology could be adapted to local
requirements.
NVIDIA Vice President of Automotive Rishi Dhall said the
collaboration would combine autonomous driving technology and
safety systems with a ride-hailing platform to explore the
potential for scalable robotaxi services in Kazakhstan.
Following a potential launch in Astana, the companies will
assess whether the service could be expanded to other cities in
Kazakhstan and other countries where inDrive operates.
inDrive operates in more than 1,200 cities across 47 countries.
Its app has been downloaded more than 400 million times and offers
services including ride-hailing, intercity transportation, delivery
and financial services.
