Pony.ai and Verne Launch Invited‑Passenger Driverless Robotaxi Tests in Zagreb

Overview

• Pony.ai and Verne began invited‑passenger, fully driverless test rides on public roads in Zagreb on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, running a 22‑kilometre route that links Verne’s headquarters and a main business district with Franjo Tuđman Airport.
• The tests remove the onboard human safety operator for invited passengers while Verne’s commercial service booked through Uber continues to operate with licensed safety operators onboard.
• Vehicles are Pony.ai’s seventh‑generation Robotaxis using an L4 domain controller built on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX, the safety‑certified DriveOS, 360° sensing and multiple redundancy and fail‑operational layers.
• Pony.ai and Verne say the rides are conducted with applicable Croatian approvals, access is restricted to invited passengers, and the companies plan to expand driverless routes across Zagreb in the coming months.
• The move follows Verne’s April commercial launch that logged more than 200,000 km and a 4.7/5 passenger rating, and it supports Pony.ai’s overseas pipeline of over 4,000 planned robotaxis and its target of more than 3,500 vehicles globally by end‑2026, though regulators and permits remain the key constraints on wider European scale‑up.