Astana, 23 October. inDrive, the ride-hailing service founded by Arsen Tomsky, together with China's Pony.ai and NVIDIA is preparing to launch a driverless taxi in Astana; no dates have been named, and the service will need approval from Kazakhstan's government before it can start.
"The companies will study the operational, technological and regulatory issues of giving passengers access to rides in driverless vehicles ready to operate at level four autonomy (full autonomy within approved geofenced areas) via the inDrive app in Kazakhstan," inDrive's press release says. Level four autonomy means the car drives without a driver, but only in areas approved in advance.
The roles are split as follows: Pony.ai will provide seventh-generation (Gen-7) robotaxis, inDrive the ride-booking platform and service operations, and NVIDIA its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Pony.ai's technology is already used for commercial driverless transport in major Chinese cities and has been tested in other countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. "Together with NVIDIA and Pony.ai we want to study how this technology will work on Kazakhstan's roads and what opportunities it will open up for passengers and drivers," Tomsky said. According to Forbes Kazakhstan, it is important to him to preserve drivers' ability to earn.
What it means: Astana has been chosen for Kazakhstan's first robotaxi, but for now it is a research project: the companies will study the technology, rules and economics and give no launch date.
Who benefits: inDrive and Pony.ai gain entry to a new driverless transport market, NVIDIA demand for its infrastructure. Passengers may eventually get a new kind of taxi; for drivers the project means a risk of competition from driverless cars, as Tomsky himself acknowledges.
Background: Forbes Kazakhstan estimates Arsen Tomsky's fortune at $865m.
List of sources used: Forbes Kazakhstan, Nationalbusiness
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
