Gasgoo Munich- Pony.ai announced on October 23 it has signed a memorandum of understanding with mobility and delivery platform inDrive and NVIDIA to explore the deployment of autonomous mobility services. Kazakhstan will be the partnership's first pilot market and Pony.ai's first market in Central Asia.
Image source: Pony.ai
Key Takeaways
- Pony.ai will provide its Gen-7 Robotaxi vehicles and autonomous-driving technology, while inDrive will manage platform operations and services. NVIDIA will support the project with its Hyperion autonomous-driving computing platform and Halos safety system.
- The partners will assess the technical, operational, regulatory and commercial requirements for offering Level 4 autonomous mobility services through the inDrive platform in Kazakhstan.
- Pony.ai and inDrive plan to begin with a Robotaxi pilot in Astana, subject to reaching an agreement with the Kazakh government.
- The companies will also explore deployments in other Kazakh cities and additional countries. inDrive's mobility and delivery businesses operate in more than 1,200 cities across 47 countries.
Regulatory background
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree in June promoting digitalization and artificial intelligence development. Kazakhstan has also established a legal framework governing the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles.
Technology and deployment
Pony.ai said its Gen-7 Robotaxi uses its latest Level 4 autonomous-driving system, with system-level redundancy and fail-safe capabilities. The company said the platform has been used in commercial driverless operations in several Chinese cities and introduced in markets across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
