GUANGZHOU, China & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2025--
Pony AI Inc. (“Pony.ai”) (Nasdaq: PONY), a global leader in achieving large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility, and Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”) (NYSE: UBER), today announced a strategic partnership to deploy Pony.ai’s Robotaxis onto the Uber platform.
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The partnership is expected to first launch in a key market in the Middle East later this year, with a goal of scaling deployments to additional international markets in the future. Once available, when a rider requests a qualifying ride on the Uber app, they may be presented with the option to have their trip fulfilled by a Pony.ai autonomous vehicle. During the initial pilot phase, these vehicles will have a safety operator onboard, until the companies’ fully autonomous commercial launch.
This is a key step in Pony.ai’s global expansion strategy, leveraging its established ecosystem to showcase robust technological readiness. Pony.ai’s seventh-generation autonomous driving system facilitates the mass production of Robotaxis on a more scalable and cost-effective basis. This technological advancement aligns with the strategic goals of the partnership, empowering Uber’s platform to more quickly and safely integrate autonomous vehicles as the collaboration expands to new markets.
“At Pony.ai, our vision is to develop autonomous driving technology that is not only safe and reliable but also scalable, transforming daily transportation,” said Dr. James Peng, Co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai. “Partnering with Uber accelerates our shared mission to make autonomous mobility a real, everyday experience for more consumers around the world. By combining our proven autonomous systems, with Uber’s unparalleled ride-hailing platform, we’re poised to set a new standard for the commercialization of driverless services, starting in the Middle East before expanding to new markets.”
“Our partnership with Pony.ai is another meaningful step towards introducing the benefits of autonomous mobility to the world,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. “As the leading on-demand platform of its kind, spanning mobility, delivery, and freight, Uber is uniquely positioned to help accelerate the commercialization of this exciting technology.”
About Pony AI Inc.
Pony AI Inc. is a global leader in achieving large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility. Leveraging its vehicle-agnostic Virtual Driver technology, a full-stack autonomous driving technology that seamlessly integrates Pony.ai’s proprietary software, hardware, and services, Pony.ai is developing a commercially viable and sustainable business model that enables the mass production and deployment of vehicles across transportation use cases. Founded in 2016, Pony.ai has expanded its presence across China, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and other regions, ensuring widespread accessibility to its advanced technology. For more information, please visit: http://ir.pony.ai.
About Uber Technologies, Inc.
Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 58 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.
PONY AI Inc. and Uber announce strategic partnership to advance autonomous mobility
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin was an unknown when the Pittsburgh Steelers plucked him from obscurity in 2007 and handed the young and charismatic Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator one of the most stable jobs in sports.
Over the next 19 seasons, Tomlin wrote his own chapter with one of the NFL's marquee franchises, winning a Super Bowl and going to another while becoming one of the most respected voices — if idiosyncratic — voices in the game.
Asked repeatedly what separated Tomlin from his peers, his players pointed to his consistency. Tomlin was the same coach day after day, season after season.
That consistency, far too often of late, also bled into the results. And after yet another quick playoff exit, Tomlin used his voice one last time to tell team president Art Rooney II that it was time to try something else.
The longest-tenured head coach in major American professional sports stepped down from his job leading the Steelers on Tuesday, a seismic shift that will have ripple effects throughout the league.
“I am deeply grateful to Art Rooney II and the late Ambassador (Dan) Rooney for their trust and support,” Tomlin said in a statement released by the team. “I am also thankful to the players who gave everything they had every day, and to the coaches and staff whose commitment and dedication made this journey so meaningful.”
Art Rooney II, who took over for his Hall of Fame father as team president in 2003, lauded Tomlin for his dedication to the franchise and ability to churn out competitive teams year after year in an era when parity is the norm.
“It is hard for me to put into words the level of respect and appreciation I have for Coach Tomlin,” Rooney said in a statement. “He guided the franchise to our sixth Super Bowl championship and made the playoffs 13 times during his tenure, including winning the AFC North eight times in his career. His track record of never having a losing season in 19 years will likely never be duplicated.”
Tomlin's early success, however, leveled off into a pattern of solid if not always spectacular play, followed by a playoff cameo that ended with the Steelers looking outclassed at every turn.
The 53-year-old Tomlin won 193 regular-season games in Pittsburgh, tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most victories in franchise history. But their resumes diverged when it comes to the playoffs. While Noll won four Super Bowls in the 1970s, Tomlin went 8-12 in the postseason, losing each of his last seven playoff games, all by double-digit margins.
The final came Monday night, when the AFC North champions squandered some early momentum before getting drilled 30-6 by Houston, the most lopsided home playoff loss in team history.
There were chants of “Fire Tomlin!” as the clock kicked toward zero, though they weren't nearly as impassioned as they were in November while the Steelers were getting pushed around by Buffalo in a loss that dropped their record to 6-6.
Tomlin did his best to tune out the noise and his team responded, the way it seemingly always did during his tenure. Pittsburgh won four of its final five games, including a sweep of Baltimore that gave the club its first AFC North title since 2020.
The optimism, however, dimmed once the Texans asserted themselves. The NFL's top-ranked defense suffocated Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh's offense while the league's highest-paid defense wilted late.
It was a familiar and frustrating pattern for a place where, as Tomlin noted not long after his introduction, “the standard is the standard.”
And while that remains the case for a team whose members walk by six Lombardi Trophies every day on the way to work, the results had plateaued. The Steelers finished with 9 or 10 wins in each of Tomlin's final five seasons, often doing just enough to squeak into the playoffs before being exposed by a more talented opponent.
Tomlin had two years left on the contract extension he signed in 2024, with the club holding the option for 2027. Should Tomlin want to return to coaching in the NFL before his contract with the Steelers expired, the club could seek compensation.
Either way, his departure leaves the Steelers looking for a head coach for just the third time since they hired Noll in 1969.
Pittsburgh likely won't lack for attractive candidates. The club's stability combined with its ability to remain competitive even without a franchise quarterback for the last half-decade means whoever gets the job will be given substantial leeway to get the team back to the top.
The announcement came as somewhat of a shock. In the final question he fielded as head coach, Tomlin painted an upbeat picture about the team's future.
“I'm always feel optimistic about what we’re capable of doing in terms of putting together a group, certainly,” he said Monday night.
And with that, he stepped off the dais and into a future that will not lack for options. Long one of the most confident and imminently quotable people in football — his weekly news conferences were peppered with what became known as “Tomlin-isms” — he could step into television if he wants, as Cowher did after retiring.
Yet it seems just as likely that he will have his choice of jobs if or when he wants to coach again. Players defended Tomlin — almost uniformly popular within the locker room — to the end.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth called Tomlin “one of the best coaches I'll ever play for, probably the best. In my opinion his message hasn't got stale. I believe in him.”
Freiermuth added that his belief extended to general manager Omar Khan, who will be in charge of finding the right person for one of the most attractive coaching gigs in any league.
Tomlin's two predecessors are in the Hall of Fame. Tomlin could very well find himself getting fitted for a gold jacket of his own. Yet rather than try to come back next year and break Noll's record for regular-season wins, he opted to, as Noll once famously put it, “get on with his life's work.”
And the Steelers will try to find the right person to help them return to the standard that the franchise lives by, one it clutched at but never quite grasped during Tomlin's final years.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, right, stands on the sideline during the first half of NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Houston Texans, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin reacts after a Houston Texans touchdown during the second half of NFL wild-card playoff football game, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin yells before an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Houston Texans, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
