A year after launching a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide and its partner Uber have officially transitioned the service to fully driverless operations. The robotaxis will operate without human safety drivers and will begin serving riders on Yas Island, a major tourism hub and home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 circuit.
Similar to Uber’s autonomous operations with Waymo in Austin, riders in Abu Dhabi who select Uber Comfort or UberX may be matched with a WeRide robotaxi. Those who want higher chances of riding in a fully autonomous vehicle can choose the dedicated “Autonomous” option within the Uber app. The service is operated in partnership with local fleet company Tawasul.
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This milestone follows WeRide’s recent approval from the UAE government to run fully driverless commercial robotaxi services. Uber and WeRide plan to extend these operations into Abu Dhabi’s city center in the coming months.
“Today’s fully autonomous launch in Abu Dhabi represents a historic transportation milestone, as the first driverless AV deployment outside of the U.S. or China,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of autonomous mobility and delivery.
Uber has been aggressively expanding autonomous partnerships globally. Over the past two years, the company has secured deals with 20 autonomous vehicle firms across the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. These partnerships span robotaxis, autonomous delivery, and trucking solutions. In 2024–2025 alone, Uber announced collaborations with May Mobility, Volkswagen, Momenta, Pony.ai, Baidu, and a premium robotaxi service using Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro’s self-driving system.
These collaborations are now translating into real services. Earlier this year, Uber and Waymo launched a robotaxi offering in Austin. The partnership with WeRide marks Uber’s first fully driverless deployment in the Middle East, with more cities, including Dubai, planned.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently stated that the company expects autonomous vehicle deployments in at least 10 cities by the end of 2026. WeRide and Uber aim to scale operations to 15 cities across the Middle East and Europe, ultimately deploying thousands of robotaxis, a significant jump from WeRide’s current fleet of over 150 vehicles in the region.
