A year after launching its commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous vehicle technology firm WeRide, in partnership with Uber, is officially rolling out a fully driverless option.
The companies announced that the commercial robotaxi service is now available to the public without a human safety operator behind the wheel. It will initially operate in Yas Island, a popular tourist district that hosts the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 racing circuit.
Image Credits: Uber/WeRide
The robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi will function similarly to Uber’s collaboration with Waymo in Austin.
Riders using Uber Comfort or UberX in Abu Dhabi may be matched with a WeRide robotaxi. For those wishing to boost their chances of getting a fully autonomous vehicle, there’s an “Autonomous” option available in the Uber app. Uber and WeRide are also teaming up with fleet operator Tawasul.
The launch comes on the heels of WeRide receiving a federal permit from the UAE to hold fully driverless robotaxi commercial operations. Plans are already in motion to expand these driverless services to additional areas in Abu Dhabi’s city center.
“This fully autonomous launch in Abu Dhabi marks a historic milestone in transportation, being the first driverless AV deployment outside the U.S. or China,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of autonomous mobility and delivery.
Over the past two years, Uber has secured partnerships with 20 autonomous vehicle technology firms globally, including in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.
These partnerships have expanded beyond just robotaxis; Uber’s agreements cover a variety of self-driving applications, from delivery to trucking. This year, the company announced collaborations with May Mobility from Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with Volkswagen, and Chinese self-driving firms like Momenta, Pony.ai, and Baidu. It also recently signed a deal to develop a premium robotaxi service using Lucid Gravity SUVs outfitted with a self-driving system from the San Francisco-based startup Nuro.
These partnerships are starting to bear fruit, with Uber and Waymo launching a robotaxi service earlier this year in Austin. Now, the expansion to the Middle East with WeRide in Abu Dhabi paves the way for even more cities to come, including Dubai.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi projected in the company’s third-quarter earnings report that autonomous vehicle deployments on the Uber network will be present in at least 10 cities by the end of 2026.
Uber and WeRide have also shared their ambitions to expand to 15 cities across the Middle East and Europe, eventually scaling to thousands of robotaxis. This would mark a significant leap for WeRide, which currently operates over 150 robotaxis in the region.
