INTERVIEW With Pony AI CEO James Peng: “In two years, we’ll be bigger than Waymo on fleet size”
Fresh from launching robotaxi operations in Croatia and Luxembourg, Pony AI CEO James Peng speaks to The Driverless Digest Editor Ben Hubbard about Pony’s partnership-led approach to Europe, why smaller markets make ideal proving grounds for autonomous mobility, and why he believes the company can overtake Waymo in fleet size within two years.
Many people likely hadn’t heard of Pony.ai until March this year, when it was one of three companies behind Europe’s first commercial robotaxi launch in Zagreb.
Recently, Pony announced it was running autonomous vehicle testing in Luxembourg with Bolt and Stellantis.
At MOVE London 2026, I sat down with CEO James Peng to explore how Pony is approaching Europe’s fragmented autonomy landscape city by city.
What is Pony?
Pony AI Inc is a public autonomous driving technology company founded in Silicon Valley, but now firmly rooted in China, where it runs fully driverless Level 4 commercial services in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai.
Outside China, it is present in Singapore, Doha, Dubai, Seoul, Luxembourg and Zagreb.
Pony’s main role is to provide the “Virtual Driver”, a vehicle-agnostic autonomous driving system that can be deployed across robotaxis, robotrucks, and low-speed urban services such as delivery and maintenance vehicles.
Pony currently has a fleet of nearly 2,000 Gen-7 robotaxis.
“In two years, we’ll be bigger than Waymo on fleet size,” says Peng.
“At the start of 2025 we had 270 robotaxis, today we’re at 2,000 and by the end of this year we’ll have 3,500, so we’re on a strong growth trajectory.”
The company delivered its first profitable quarter in Q4 last year. In Q1 this year, it generated $8.6 million in robotaxi revenue, up 395% year-on-year.
Pony is now valued at roughly $3.6 billion.
European strategy
Pony’s Europe strategy is deliberately conservative and partnership-led, avoiding a full stack operating model.
“The European market, first and foremost, is a very interesting market to us,” Peng told The Driverless Digest. “It has a population of 500 million people and is economically very strong.
“But we are definitely not going to come to Europe alone. We will work closely with our partners.”
Uber and Bolt sit at the center of that approach, alongside city specific fleet operators depending on the market.
Early rollouts focus on tightly defined populous urban zones where demand is concentrated and utilization can be maximized. James says it is important for Pony to prioritize density over wider coverage in the early stages to prevent long wait times and achieve more rides per vehicle.
“We’re getting 25 rides per vehicle per day with an average wait time of five minutes in Shenzhen and that’s what we’re looking to bring to Europe,” Peng adds.
For context, Waymo’s most recently reported California data showed its San Francisco fleet averaging roughly 24 rides per vehicle per day as of December 2024. While the two figures are not perfectly comparable given differences in service areas, fleet composition and operating conditions, they suggest Pony is already achieving utilization rates comparable to those of the industry leader in at least some markets.
Luxembourg and Croatia
The early shape of that strategy is already visible in Croatia and Luxembourg.
In Zagreb, Pony works with Uber on the ride-hailing side, while Verne handles local operations. Around 15 robotaxis are currently running through the downtown area and airport routes, with a safety operator onboard.
“Our internal data suggests it is safe to remove the safety driver, and we will be testing that very soon,” Peng says.
In Luxembourg, Pony is partnering with Bolt and Stellantis to launch a testing programme through which it can validate safety, operational performance and regulatory readiness for its robotaxis.
“With Luxembourg, you can make an appointment with a minister very quickly. For us, that is great because it means we can grow fast while working with policymakers to demonstrate to the public that the technology is safe, reliable and convenient.”
Challenges in Europe
Peng says the two key factors shaping European deployment are regulation and partnerships.
“We must have strong partnerships with automakers, ride-hailing platforms and service providers to scale.”
Regulation remains the biggest structural challenge. Autonomous vehicle developers continue to face fragmented testing permits, approval processes, road rules and data standards across different countries and cities.
“We are already seeing much more discussion at the policy level and many more cities have a waiting list for autonomous vehicle trials,” he adds.
On 9 June, Europe moved a step closer to harmonising this landscape, with 17 countries agreeing to coordinate autonomous vehicle testing across borders.
2026 outlook
Peng confirms that another European city is already “cooking”, although details remain under wraps.
“There will be something this year,” he says. “There is a lot happening.”
The plan is to be in 20 cities globally by the end of this year.
For now, the strategy remains consistent. Start small, build partnerships, demonstrate safety and then scale.