Autonomous driving company Pony AI Inc. (NASDAQ:PONY) shares rose in Friday’s premarket after the company unveiled PonyWorld 2.0.
The upgraded model enables autonomous systems to self-diagnose weaknesses and drive targeted performance improvements.
Enhanced Self-Diagnosis and Training Capabilities
The system adds three key capabilities: self-diagnosis, targeted data collection in underperforming scenarios, and more efficient training on complex edge cases.
Using a structured intention layer, the model evaluates its decisions against outcomes and identifies performance gaps.
It then directs human teams to collect relevant real-world data to refine and improve the training process.
Deployment and Commercial Expansion
PonyWorld 2.0 is deployed across Pony.ai’s driverless fleet and R&D operations, improving safety, ride comfort, and traffic efficiency.
It also supports faster commercialization across the company’s autonomous driving operations.
The launch aligns with expansion plans to deploy over 3,000 robotaxis across 20 global cities, with nearly half of them overseas.
Shift Toward Self-Improving AI Systems
The upgrade builds on Pony.ai’s reinforcement learning framework, which has been developed since 2020. It marks a shift toward a self-improving cycle where AI increasingly guides its own training.
“PonyWorld 2.0 is an important step toward a more self-improving approach to autonomous driving development,” said Founder and CTO Dr. Tiancheng Lou.
“As AI systems become more capable, they can play a larger role not only in learning to drive, but also in guiding their own improvement — making L4 development more scalable over time.”
Service Launch and Availability
Pony.ai recently launched Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia, in partnership with Verne and Uber.
The launch extends Pony.ai’s robotaxi operations into Europe under its dual-engine growth strategy and follows breakeven milestones for Gen-7 unit economics in two Chinese tier-one cities.
Technical Analysis
At $9.66, the stock is trading 5.5% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) of $10.22, indicating a bearish short-term trend. It is also 21.8% below its 50-day SMA of $12.36, suggesting continued weakness in the intermediate term.
The relative strength index (RSI) stands at 37.90, signaling neutral momentum. The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) shows a bullish crossover, with the MACD at -1.0063 and the signal line at -1.0462.
This indicates the stock faces some pressure but may gain upward momentum if buying interest strengthens.
- Key Resistance: $11.50 — This level has historically been where upward movements have stalled.
- Key Support: $8.00 — A critical level where buying interest has previously emerged.
Analyst Outlook
The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $21.17. Recent analyst moves include:
- HSBC: Initiated with Buy (Target $16.60) (March 31)
- Barclays: Equal-Weight (Lowers Target to $10.00) (March 30)
- Barclays: Initiated with Equal-Weight (Target $15.00) (Dec. 17, 2025)
Benzinga Edge Rankings
Below is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for Pony AI, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:
- Momentum: Weak (Score: 11.99) — Stock is underperforming the broader market.
The Verdict: Pony AI Benzinga Edge signal reveals a weak profile, indicating challenges in maintaining upward momentum despite recent technological advancements.
Top ETF Exposure
- SPDR S&P Kensho Smart Mobility ETF (NYSE:HAIL): 2.34% Weight
- Roundhill Robotaxi, Autonomous Vehicles & Technology ETF (NASDAQ:CABZ): 4.36% Weight
Significance: Because PONY carries significant weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows will likely trigger automatic buying or selling of the stock.
PONY Stock Price Activity: Pony AI shares were up 3.09% at $9.66 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Image via Shutterstock
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