Pony AI increases its year-end target for robotaxis to 3,500 following a strong performance in the first quarter.

      Pony AI, the driverless car firm based in Beijing, announced on Tuesday that it has increased its target for its robotaxi fleet by the end of 2026 to over 3,500 vehicles, up from the earlier target of 3,000, following a first-quarter report that showed a year-on-year revenue increase of 395% for its robotaxi services.

      This updated forecast was included in the company’s Q1 2026 earnings announcement. Pony AI’s robotaxi fleet has already surpassed 1,700 vehicles, which means the new goal suggests around 1,800 additional vehicles will need to be deployed over the next seven months.

      Additionally, the company raised its annual revenue expectations, now anticipating that robotaxi revenues for 2026 will be more than 3.5 times higher than those of 2025, an increase from the previous estimate of three times. The revenues from fare-charging, a clearer indicator of paid commercial usage rather than simply testing, surged by 456.5% year-on-year during the quarter.

      The Q1 results coincide with two key operational achievements that support the new guidance. Average weekly paid orders in May 2026 were reported to be 119% higher than the levels seen at the beginning of January, and the number of registered users has more than tripled compared to the same period last year.

      Pony AI also highlighted that its Gen-7 platform has reached unit-economics breakeven at the city level, a milestone the company achieved late last year, which supports their acceleration in deployments.

      This fleet target is part of a broader expansion plan that has recently been viewed as ambitious. In November 2025, Pony AI committed to tripling its global fleet to 3,000 vehicles by the end of 2026, a target previously regarded as aggressive by analysts. Raising that figure to 3,500 just six months later indicates that the company may have underestimated the speed of its deployment growth.

      Pony AI operates in over 20 cities and recently initiated what it claims to be Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, in collaboration with Uber and the Rimac-owned mobility company Verne. Driverless trials are also ongoing in Dubai, with paid services anticipated to launch later in 2026.

      The competitive landscape presents an interesting context. Waymo, the most advanced operator globally, operates around 3,000 vehicles providing approximately 500,000 paid rides weekly across 10 U.S. cities. Baidu’s Apollo Go has over 1,000 active vehicles, previously reporting about 300,000 fully driverless orders each week and is active in 22 cities.

      Pony AI's target of 3,500 vehicles would align it with Waymo in terms of fleet size by year’s end, although comparing ride volumes is more challenging without data on per-vehicle utilization.

      Uber’s Q1 report, which noted a 10-fold increase in autonomous trip volume year-on-year, suggests increasing demand across all three platforms.

      The sector is rapidly consolidating into a few operators providing paid commercial services at scale. Pony AI's dual listing in Hong Kong last November strengthened its finances for scaling up, despite shares dropping on launch.

      The central question now is whether the new target of 3,500 vehicles will accelerate the pathway to profitability or simply prolong cash consumption, an inquiry that the latter half of 2026 will clarify. The company has not issued a consolidated profit outlook.

      Following the earnings release, Pony AI shares experienced a rise in pre-market trading.