Under the plan, Pony.ai would provide its Gen-7 robotaxis, inDrive would offer the rides through its app and operate them in Kazakhstan, and NVIDIA would supply the AI technology, including its Hyperion platform and Halos safety system. Tests will start with a safety operator, with fully driverless rides as the eventual goal, inDrive CTO Yuri Misnik said.
inDrive, which built its business around affordable rides where passengers and drivers negotiate the fare, describes its approach as "capital-light": partnering in different markets rather than building everything itself. According to NVIDIA, Hyperion can lower the cost of developing robotaxis by providing a ready-made foundation of sensors and computing, which matters in emerging markets where ride-hailing is already cheap and autonomous services must compete on cost.
The announcement coincided with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's first visit to Kazakhstan, and comes as other ride-hailing companies expand robotaxi activity beyond the US and China: earlier this month Uber announced tests of Pony.ai robotaxis in London.