WORLDTECHInDrive to test Pony.ai robotaxis in Astana from 2027
Ride-hailing app InDrive, built on negotiated fares, intends to start testing robotaxis in Astana, the Kazakh capital, in the first half of 2027. Its chief technology officer, Yuri Misnik, told TechCrunch that the trials would combine autonomous vehicles from Pony.ai with computing from Nvidia.
How the three partners split the work
The partnership gives each company a distinct task. Pony.ai would field the vehicles, InDrive would bring the riders through its existing platform, and Nvidia would provide the processing power behind the systems.
Pony.ai's seventh-generation autonomous vehicles are to be integrated into the InDrive app already in use, so a rider in Astana would not need to install anything new to summon a car with no one behind the wheel.
Why Kazakhstan, and why now
InDrive has operated in Kazakhstan since its founding in 2014, giving it an established user base there. Memoranda signed with Kazakh authorities across 2025 and 2026 set up a sandbox-style framework for piloting autonomous vehicles, and those agreements also cover a possible pilot route from the airport.
The project also fits a wider national push on artificial intelligence. Kazakhtelecom has already put 400 Nvidia H200 and 480 B300 GPUs into service across Astana and Almaty and plans more than 1,000 additional units, along with 1,000 Vera Rubin GPUs, to arrive in 2027, a timetable that lines up with the robotaxi tests.
Background to the partnership
Pony.ai already runs commercial robotaxi services in China and has been working to grow beyond its home market. InDrive's model differs from most ride-hailing platforms: the app does not set the price. Riders propose a fare, and drivers can accept, decline or counter it.
Nvidia is a semiconductor company based in Santa Clara. For Nvidia, the deal is another instance of its familiar approach of supplying the computing layer for autonomous-driving projects.
Open questions
- Will the testing start in the first half of 2027 as planned?
- How will negotiated fares work when no human driver is involved?