Uber and WeRide are moving ahead with a fully driverless phase of their robotaxi program in the United Arab Emirates, marking a shift from supervised autonomous trials to limited driverless service. Riders in Abu Dhabi requesting an UberX or Uber Comfort may now be matched with a WeRide autonomous vehicle, though only if their trip falls within the approved operating zone on Yas Island. The pilot remains tightly constrained for now, reflecting how most commercial driverless deployments continue to roll out in small, highly monitored pockets rather than across entire cities.
The companies first introduced their joint robotaxi service in December 2024 using safety drivers, with plans to transition to fully autonomous operation within a year. That timeline has largely held, but the rollout is carefully scaled. Yas Island’s roughly 12-square-mile layout, heavy tourist traffic, and contained road network make it a predictable environment for testing commercial autonomy. Customers can opt into the experience by choosing an Autonomous preference in the Uber app, which increases the likelihood of being matched with a driverless vehicle.
WeRide is using its GXR model for the service, a van-like vehicle built on Geely’s Farizon SuperVan platform. The GXR carries more than 20 sensors and cameras and seats up to five passengers. Its design mirrors WeRide’s deployments in Beijing, suggesting the company is working toward a standardized hardware approach across regions. Similar to Uber’s partnership structure with Waymo in the United States, Uber manages day-to-day fleet logistics for the service in Abu Dhabi through local operator Tawasul Transport. That includes cleaning, charging, maintenance routines, and inspections, while WeRide handles the technical stack, testing protocols, and calibration of its sensor suite.
The two companies intend to broaden their driverless operations in the UAE over time and say they aim to introduce the service to another 15 cities over the next five years, including several in Europe. Expansion plans remain ambitious, but the trajectory of commercial autonomous vehicles continues to depend on regulatory approvals, localized safety reviews, and the ability of operators to maintain fleets that can reliably function without human supervision.
For Uber, these partnerships are part of a broader strategy to position its platform as an aggregator for a variety of autonomous vehicle providers rather than focusing on a single in-house effort. The company has repeatedly signaled that offering robotaxis and automated delivery through multiple partners is central to its long-term approach, though the scale of these services still falls far short of the company’s global ride-hailing footprint. As autonomous deployments inch forward city by city, the UAE launch illustrates how controlled, geographically limited environments remain the starting point for commercial driverless offerings.
