inDrive targets 2027 robotaxi tests in Kazakhstan with Pony.ai and Nvidia

Ride-hailing company inDrive will begin testing robotaxis on the streets of Astana, Kazakhstan, in the first half of 2027, using vehicles built by Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai and AI technology supplied by Nvidia. The company announced the plan Friday, alongside a memorandum of understanding signed with both partners that could bring fully driverless rides to Central Asia for the first time.

Testing will start in Kazakhstan's capital with a safety operator behind the wheel, inDrive CTO Yuri Misnik told TechCrunch. Fully driverless rides remain the eventual goal, but no date for removing the operator has been set. Under the proposed structure, Pony.ai would provide its seventh-generation robotaxi, the Gen-7, while inDrive offers the vehicles through its ride-hailing app and operates them in Kazakhstan.

Nvidia's role covers the computing stack. The company would supply its Hyperion platform, a ready-made foundation of sensors and computing technology, along with its Halos safety system. Nvidia also offers its Alpamayo model and tools that generate synthetic data and test autonomous driving systems across different driving scenarios.

The timing of the announcement was not accidental. It coincided with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's first visit to Kazakhstan on Friday, a visit that put the Central Asian country on the map for one of the world's most valuable chipmakers.

Why does a fare-negotiating app want robotaxis?

inDrive built its business differently from Uber. The platform lets passengers and drivers negotiate fares directly, an approach that has made it a favorite in price-sensitive markets. The company has carried that affordability-first logic into its autonomous strategy.

"Our approach is capital-light by design," Misnik said. "We work with a range of partners in different markets, combining their expertise with ours to deliver a better customer experience."

That model stands in contrast to companies spending billions on in-house autonomous fleets. inDrive doesn't build vehicles or driving software. It partners with firms that do, then plugs their robotaxis into its existing app.

The economics matter most in emerging markets, and Nvidia is making the same argument. Ali Kani, Nvidia's vice president of automotive, told TechCrunch that the cost savings from a platform like Hyperion are "particularly relevant in emerging markets, where ride-hailing is already relatively affordable and autonomous services need to compete on cost."

The logic is straightforward. A robotaxi that costs too much to deploy cannot undercut a human driver earning modest local wages. Cheap, pre-integrated hardware and software stacks change that equation.

inDrive operates in more than 1,200 cities across 47 countries. Beyond ride-hailing, the company has expanded into delivery, intercity transportation, and financial services.

Why Astana?

Astana presents one of the harshest testing environments a robotaxi could face. The city of roughly 1.7 million people endures months of snow and ice each winter, conditions that stress autonomous driving systems in ways sunny testbeds like Phoenix or Dubai never will.

"Launching here will provide an important opportunity to evaluate autonomous driving technology in challenging winter conditions," inDrive founder and CEO Arsen Tomsky said. "Success in Astana could offer valuable insights for expanding autonomous mobility to other locations facing similar challenges."

In other words, if a robotaxi can handle an Astana winter, it can handle a lot. Cities across Russia, Northern Europe, Canada, and the northern United States face similar conditions, and a proven winter-capable system would open those markets.

Kazakhstan has also been preparing the ground. Last month, the country announced plans to launch autonomous taxi services in 2027, with initial trials planned in Astana and two other cities. It has introduced rules allowing autonomous vehicles to be tested on certain public roads.

The regulatory piece is central to inDrive's expansion thinking.

"We are also looking at a number of other markets for future deployments," Misnik said. "One of the main requisites for successful launch in our view is a favorable and collaborative regulatory environment to facilitate safe and sustainable testing on the roads."

What does this mean for Pony.ai?

The Kazakhstan deal adds to Pony.ai's accelerating push beyond China. The company aims to have more than 3,500 robotaxis operating in over 20 cities worldwide by the end of 2026, up from a fleet of 1,975 vehicles at the end of June.

That target makes Central Asia a meaningful piece of Pony.ai's global map. Each new market with a signed partner moves the company closer to the milestone, and Kazakhstan's government has signaled openness that other countries have not.

The deal also deepens an emerging pattern: Chinese autonomous driving firms exporting their technology through local ride-hailing partners rather than going it alone.

Where does this fit in the robotaxi race?

The inDrive announcement reflects a broader shift in the robotaxi industry. Self-driving technology is spreading beyond the United States and China, and ride-hailing platforms are the delivery vehicle.

Uber, inDrive's biggest rival, is pursuing the same playbook aggressively. Earlier this month, Uber announced plans to test Pony.ai's robotaxis in London. In the same city, it has started offering supervised autonomous rides with British startup Wayve, an investor-backed partner. Uber is also working with multiple robotaxi companies in other markets, including the Middle East.

Notably, Uber and inDrive are now both partnering with Pony.ai. The Chinese firm is becoming a common supplier of autonomous vehicles to ride-hailing platforms worldwide, a position somewhat analogous to what Nvidia occupies further down the stack with its computing platforms.

inDrive is hedging across technology partners, too. In December, the company signed a separate agreement with Saudi Arabia's AI Driver to explore deploying autonomous vehicles powered by Chinese self-driving firm WeRide, starting with Riyadh. The companies had targeted a pilot in the first half of 2026, though it remains unclear whether testing has begun.

What happens next?

Several milestones will determine whether the Kazakhstan plan becomes real. The memorandum of understanding is an exploratory agreement, not a binding deployment contract. The partners must finalize their technical integration, and inDrive must clear Kazakhstan's testing regulations for the specific routes and conditions.

The first half of 2027 is the stated start date for supervised testing in Astana. If the trials succeed, driverless operations would follow, though no timeline exists for that step.

The stakes extend beyond one company. Kazakhstan's 2027 autonomous taxi plan, Nvidia's growing automotive presence in the country, and Pony.ai's global fleet targets all converge in Astana. A successful winter deployment there would give the entire industry proof that robotaxis can work outside temperate, wealthy markets — and inDrive, the fare-negotiating upstart from Mountain View, would be the platform that proved it.