On April 20, Pony.ai announced that it has begun fully driverless Robotaxi testing in Dubai. According to its plan, Pony.ai expects to launch commercial Robotaxi services for the public in Dubai in the second half of 2026, with a fleet of several hundred vehicles. As early as May 2025, Pony.ai signed a cooperation agreement with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority to deploy an autonomous taxi fleet in the city. In September of the same year, the company obtained a testing permit from the RTA and subsequently entered a multi-month road validation phase. Pony.ai Robotaxi in Dubai The deployment aligns with Dubai’s “Smart City 2030” vision, which aims to have 25% of all urban transportation completed by autonomous systems by 2030, providing a clear timeline for large-scale adoption. Pony.ai founder and CEO Peng Jun noted that Dubai represents a key node in the company’s global Robotaxi strategy, with a focus on exporting operational models already validated in China to overseas markets. Progress in the domestic market has laid the groundwork. Pony.ai’s seventh-generation Robotaxi has already achieved scaled deployment in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, reaching break-even at the single-vehicle economic level. Pony.ai Robotaxi in Doha The pace of overseas expansion is also accelerating. Beyond Dubai, Pony.ai has initiated testing programs in cities including Doha and Zagreb, while identifying the Middle East, Europe and East Asia as priority regions. According to disclosures in its 2025 earnings call, the company plans to deploy more than 3,000 Robotaxis across over 20 cities globally in 2026, with overseas markets expected to account for nearly half.