Verne, Pony.ai, and Uber Launch Europe's First Commercial Robotaxi Service in Zagreb
Croatia becomes Europe's first country with a paid commercial robotaxi service, as Verne, Pony.ai, and Uber open Gen-7 autonomous rides to the public in Zagreb.
Overview
On April 8, 2026, Zagreb became the first city in Europe to offer a paid, publicly accessible commercial robotaxi service. Croatian autonomous mobility company Verne launched rides through its app powered by Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai, with Uber acting as a strategic investor and future platform partner. The milestone represents the first time a fare-paying general public in Europe can book a commercially licensed autonomous vehicle ride, according to The Next Web.
The Service
The Zagreb deployment runs daily from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and spans approximately 90 square kilometers across the wider Zagreb city center, including access to Zagreb Airport, as stated in a Pony.ai press release. Riders book and pay through the Verne app; availability through the Uber app is coming soon under the strategic partnership announced in late March 2026.
The vehicles in service are Arcfox Alpha T5 electric cars equipped with Pony.ai’s seventh-generation autonomous driving system. Trained safety operators remain onboard during the early rollout, with the companies intending to transition to fully driverless operations subject to regulatory approval and safety performance benchmarks, according to The Next Web.
The Companies
Verne was founded as Project 3 Mobility inside Croatian electric hypercar maker Rimac Group and officially spun out as an independent company in July 2024 with €100 million in funding, according to TechCrunch. Rimac founder Mate Rimac holds a 23 percent stake in the venture. Verne CEO Marko Pejković co-founded the company alongside Rimac and Chief Design Officer Adriano Mudri. Pejković’s stated aim is to build “autonomous mobility that can move from testing to a real service,” a quote attributed to him in the Verne/Pony.ai/Uber joint press release.
Pony.ai is a Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company listed on Nasdaq. Its Gen-7 autonomous driving system has already reached unit economics breakeven in the tier-one Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, demonstrating cost-per-ride viability at commercial scale, as noted in the Pony.ai launch press release. Pony.ai CEO Dr. James Peng described Zagreb as “an important milestone as we continue to expand our commercial robotaxi operations globally.”
Uber made an undisclosed strategic investment in Verne in March 2026, per TechCrunch. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the alliance brings together “Pony.ai’s proven autonomous driving technology, Verne’s operational and market expertise, and Uber’s global platform” to scale autonomous ride-hailing, according to the joint press release.
Why Zagreb
Croatia offers a combination of factors that made it an attractive launch market. Verne’s origins within Rimac — one of Croatia’s best-known technology companies — gave it years of established relationships with local regulators. The launch follows a phased testing program in Zagreb’s streets. Verne received EU funding through Croatia’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, according to The Next Web.
By contrast, incumbent European mobility players have generally kept autonomous operations in controlled environments. Competitors such as EasyMile operate 12-seat autonomous shuttles in dedicated corridors; Einride deploys electric autonomous freight pods; and teledriving companies like Vay offer remote-controlled delivery. Verne is the first to open a fare-based, open-road robotaxi to the public across Europe.
Expansion and Next Steps
Verne has initiated permitting discussions with 11 cities across the EU, UK, and the Middle East, with more than 30 additional cities under active consideration, as stated in the Pony.ai launch press release. The company is also building a factory in Lučko, Croatia, expected to begin producing a purpose-built two-seat autonomous vehicle — with no steering wheel or pedals — later in 2026, according to TechCrunch. Pony.ai’s global 2026 target is a fleet of 3,000 vehicles company-wide.
Waymo, Pony.ai’s nearest rival in scale, has separately begun on-road testing in London ahead of a planned Q4 2026 launch, which would make it the second Western autonomous ride-hailing entrant to European streets, per The Next Web.
What Remains Uncertain
The service has not disclosed pricing or exact fleet size. The transition from safety-operator-supervised rides to fully driverless operations has no announced timeline beyond “as soon as possible, subject to regulatory approvals.” Pony.ai’s Chinese operations provided proof of commercial viability, but European regulatory environments — fragmented across 27 EU member states, the UK, and additional markets — present a more complex landscape than the city-by-city approval model the company navigated in China.