WeRide Partners with Uber to Provide Robotaxis in Dubai – CleanTechnica

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Last Updated on: 18th June 2025, 01:45 am

While the US market focuses on Waymo and Tesla much of the time when tracking and discussing robotaxis, the fact is, there are robotaxis in operation outside the US already as well. One company developing such vehicle is WeRide. We have covered WeRide numerous times in the past, and I’ll come back to that, but the latest news is that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) as well as Uber in order to progress robotaxis in the area.

If WeRide sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve written about it several times, including recently. It expanded into 15 more cities about a month ago. The company launched robotaxis in Abu Dhabi about 6 months ago. The company has also deployed autonomous streetsweepers in Singapore.

How good WeRide’s autonomous vehicles are, I don’t really know. But they’re apparently good enough for Uber to use them in the UAE. That means something. (Though, we are talking about pilot operations with safety drivers on board.)

“We are accelerating our international expansion, with the Middle East as a strategic priority. Last month, we expanded our partnership with Uber to roll out Robotaxis in 15 additional cities over the next five years, with cities in the Middle East under consideration, and now, formalized our collaboration with Uber and the RTA to bring autonomous vehicles to Dubai through this MoU,” Jennifer Li, CFO and Head of International at WeRide, stated with the announcement. “We are fully aligned with the Dubai Government’s ambitious vision to make 25% of all transportation trips autonomous by 2030, and are proud to support this goal with our advanced technology and global experience.”

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, added: “The introduction of autonomous vehicles in Dubai represents a significant leap towards a smart and sustainable future for mobility, in line with the vision of our leadership to transform Dubai into the world’s smartest city. It also supports the objectives of the Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy, which seeks to convert 25% of all mobility journeys in the emirate into autonomous trips across various transport modes by 2030. This MoU reinforces Dubai’s global leadership in adopting advanced and sustainable transport solutions, embracing state-of-the-art technologies, and fostering innovative mobility initiatives.”

Frans Hiemstra, Regional General Manager, MEA at Uber said: “At Uber, we are building the future of transportation, one we see as autonomous, electric, and shared. Today we’re thrilled to ink our partnership with RTA to bring autonomous vehicle operations in the UAE by launching in Dubai in 2025, starting with WeRide as our first technology partner. This strategic collaboration anchors our commitment to make autonomous vehicles more accessible to people around the world and we’re excited to bring this experience to thousands of riders in Dubai later this year.”

Waymo’s doing well in California and, increasingly, other US locations. A few Chinese robotaxi companies are doing well in China. How fast can WeRide expand in the UAE, or the Middle East more broadly, and lock that region down for itself? Or — are one of these companies head and shoulders above the others and just going to come put them out of business once they get around to much broader expansion? Well, WeRide already has autonomous driving permits in China, the USA, the UAE, Singapore, and France. However, operations are still relatively small.