Pony.ai Surges On Report Of Uber-Travis Kalanick Deal Talks - Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY)

Pony AI Stock Pops On Report Uber Is In Talks With Travis Kalanick To Invest In Potential Deal

by Adam Eckert Benzinga Editor

Zinger Key Points

Uber is in discussions with its co-founder Travis Kalanick to potentially fund a deal for Pony AI's U.S. arm.
Financial details were not shared and it's not clear if Uber would play a role beyond being an investor.
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Pony AI Inc PONY shares popped ahead of the close on Thursday and are continuing to move higher in after-hours following reports that Uber Technologies Inc UBER is in talks to help fund a takeover deal with the company.

What To Know: The New York Times reported Thursday afternoon that Uber is in discussions with its co-founder Travis Kalanick, who departed Uber eight years ago, to help fund a potential acquisition of the U.S. division of Pony AI.

Two people with knowledge of the matter reportedly said the talks are preliminary, but would result in Kalanick running Pony AI if completed. Financial details were not shared and it’s not clear if Uber would play a role beyond being an investor.

The report indicates that if a deal is reached, Kalanick would work more closely with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, while continuing to run his virtual restaurant startup CloudKitchens.

Pony AI had a market cap of $4.62 billion as of Thursday’s close. The stock has risen approximately 43% over the past three months as broader self-driving initiatives continue to accelerate.

Uber announced a strategic partnership to deploy Pony AI's robotaxis on the Uber platform last month. The partnership is expected to launch in the Middle East later this year, with plans to expand to additional international markets in the future.

Uber also announced earlier this week that it began offering autonomous ride options with Waymo in Atlanta exclusively on the Uber app. The companies launched autonomous ride-hailing in Austin in March after entering into a partnership in September last year.

Competition in the autonomous space is starting to pick up. Tesla officially launched robotaxi rides on Sunday in Austin through a "successful" invitation-only event, CEO Elon Musk said on X.

PONY Price Action: Pony AI shares closed Thursday up 11.98% at $14.58. The stock was up another 0.89% in after-hours, trading at $14.71 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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