After a year of operating a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, WeRide, the Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company, and its partner Uber can now officially call the service driverless.
According to the companies, the commercial robotaxi service, now operating without a human safety operator, is available to the public and will initially serve routes on Yas Island, a tourist destination that hosts the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 race.
The robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi will function in a similar fashion to Uber’s partnership with Waymo in Austin.
Uber users in Abu Dhabi who select Uber Comfort or UberX may find themselves matched with a WeRide robotaxi. To increase their chances of riding in a fully autonomous vehicle, riders can select the “Autonomous” option within the Uber app. Uber and WeRide are also collaborating with Tawasul, their fleet operator partner.
The launch occurs one month after WeRide received a federal permit from the United Arab Emirates to operate fully driverless commercial robotaxi services. WeRide and Uber intend to broaden their driverless services to encompass more areas in Abu Dhabi’s city center.
“The launch of fully autonomous vehicles in Abu Dhabi today is a landmark transportation achievement, representing the first driverless AV deployment outside of the U.S. or China,” stated Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of autonomous mobility and delivery, in a press release.
Over the last two years, Uber has forged partnerships with 20 autonomous vehicle technology companies across various countries, including those in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
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These partnerships have grown beyond just robotaxis, covering the full spectrum of self-driving applications like delivery and trucking. This year, Uber announced partnerships with May Mobility of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Volkswagen, Chinese self-driving firms Momenta, Pony.ai, and Baidu, as well as a recent agreement to develop a premium robotaxi service utilizing Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with a self-driving system from Nuro, a startup based in San Francisco.
These agreements are now beginning to translate into real commercial services. For example, Uber and Waymo introduced a robotaxi service in Austin earlier this year. Now, Uber is expanding into the Middle East with WeRide in Abu Dhabi, with plans to extend to even more cities, including Dubai.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated in the company’s third-quarter earnings report that he anticipates autonomous vehicle deployments on the Uber network in a minimum of 10 cities by the close of 2026.
Uber and WeRide have previously announced intentions to expand to 15 cities in the Middle East and Europe, eventually scaling to thousands of robotaxis. This would be a significant advancement for WeRide, which currently operates over 150 robotaxis in the region.
