Uber starts app-based autonomous rides in Zagreb with partners Verne and Pony.ai, as investors watch the robotaxi bet

Uber Technologies has taken another step toward integrating autonomous driving into its ride-hailing platform. According to a market report published Tuesday by Yahoo Finance, Uber has begun offering autonomous rides through its app in Zagreb, using a commercial robotaxi setup delivered with partners Verne and.

The report frames the Zagreb launch as an early test of how Uber’s marketplace model can connect riders with autonomous vehicles at scale. Rather than building autonomy end-to-end internally, the company is described as relying on specialized partners to supply the technology and operational capability, then distributing the service through Uber’s app.

As described in the Yahoo Finance piece, the goal is to bring a commercial robotaxi service into Uber’s European mobility network. That matters because Europe is a key region for Uber’s core business, and a successful autonomy rollout could shift demand patterns, reduce reliance on human driver supply, or change pricing power over time.

The same report also points to the idea that Uber’s shares may be trading below what some investors consider underlying value, tying that view to the company’s robotaxi momentum. In other words, the market’s willingness to discount the autonomy narrative may be as important as the near-term economics of the Zagreb service.

Robotaxi pilots have typically struggled with one central issue: proving that autonomy can operate reliably enough and at a cost structure that allows broad adoption. Uber’s approach, as described here, is to attempt early commercial delivery through app distribution in a defined geography, then scale if performance and unit economics hold up.

Sector context matters because autonomous mobility is not just a technology race, it is a partnership and deployment race. Ride-hailing platforms have distribution, consumer demand, and routing data, while autonomy providers and vehicle operators often bring the engineering and ground operations needed to run driverless or limited-attendant services. Uber’s use of Verne and fits that division of labor.

Still, important details are not disclosed in the Yahoo Finance report. It does not specify metrics such as ride frequency, safety or incident reporting, pricing versus conventional rides, geographic rollout pace within Zagreb, driverless versus attended operations, or whether Uber plans to expand to additional cities on a set timetable. Without those specifics, it is difficult to assess how much the program contributes to revenue or profitability.

What to watch next is whether Uber and its partners provide more granular operational updates, including service coverage, reliability targets, cost trends, and any expansion beyond Zagreb. Investors will likely look for evidence that the technology can be deployed repeatedly and that autonomy can fit into Uber’s service levels at a commercially viable cost.