Uber has struck a deal to deploy 2,000 of Pony.ai’s autonomous vehicles across Europe and extend their robotaxi partnership into the Middle East, the companies announced on Friday, in the latest expansion of the ride-hailing giant’s push to build a global self-driving network.

The two operators have been working together since late March, when they launched what they describe as Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia. The new arrangement adds four more European cities to that rollout, though neither company has named the locations or committed to a specific timeline.

More cars on the road generates more operational data, helps build a safety case with regulators and improves the availability that encourages everyday riders to actually use the service. On that measure, Alphabet-backed Waymo remains the global benchmark, operating around 5,000 vehicles, predominantly in the United States, while also testing rides in London and reportedly establishing new legal entities in four major EU economies.

Uber’s ambitions extend well beyond Europe. Its Japanese subsidiary signed an agreement this week with a local taxi operator to manage fleet operations for a robotaxi test in Tokyo later this year. In June, Uber and WeRide announced plans for Spain’s first robotaxi pilot in Madrid, with the two companies also running joint operations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Chinese operators Baidu Apollo Go and WeRide are both advancing their own European plans, with Uber featuring as a partner across several of those efforts.

Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has spoken publicly about the company’s aim to become the world’s leading commercialisation platform for autonomous vehicles. Central to that strategy is accumulating a broad pool of data that Uber can share with its autonomous vehicle partners to accelerate their development programmes.

Pony.ai, which is listed in the United States, is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings on Tuesday.