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WeRide has secured approval to operate commercial, fully driverless robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi, UAE.<\/p>\n
The permit, issued on 31 October, authorises the Chinese autonomous driving firm to run robotaxis without safety drivers.<\/p>\n
The company said it is among the first to obtain a city-level commercial permit for Level 4 autonomous driving outside the US, and the first international company to do so in the UAE.<\/p>\n
WeRide said it plans to grow its Middle East fleet to 1,000 robotaxis by 2026 and ultimately deploy tens of thousands by 2030.<\/p>\n
Commercial services will launch on the Uber and TXAI platforms in Abu Dhabi, with further details to follow.<\/p>\n
WeRide said its application was approved after a comprehensive assessment process.<\/p>\n
In July 2023, WeRide received the UAE\u2019s first national licence covering all categories of self-driving vehicles, allowing autonomous testing and operations on public roads nationwide, subject to emirate-level permissions.<\/p>\n
Guided by the relevant authorities, the company said it completed a \u201crigorous\u201d testing programme that led to approval for fully driverless commercial operations.<\/p>\n
WeRide has operated robotaxis with TXAI in Abu Dhabi since 2021.<\/p>\n
In December 2024, WeRide and Uber began a robotaxi ride-hailing partnership in Abu Dhabi, described as the largest commercial robotaxi service outside the US and China.<\/p>\n
The partnership was expanded in July 2025 to cover around half of Abu Dhabi\u2019s core districts, including Al Reem and Al Maryah.<\/p>\n
Together with partners, WeRide aims to extend services across most of the city\u2019s core by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n
As of October 2025, WeRide said its robotaxis had accumulated close to one million kilometres in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
The latest permit removes the need for an in-vehicle safety officer, which the company said enables its robotaxi operations in the emirate to reach financial breakeven on a unit economics basis.<\/p>\n
In August, Grab made a strategic equity investment in WeRide<\/a> to expedite the rollout of Level 4 robotaxis and shuttles across the Southeast Asian region.<\/p>\n Grab\u2019s investment is slated for completion by the first half of 2026.<\/p>\n “WeRide cleared to run fully driverless robotaxis in Abu Dhabi” was originally created and published by Just Auto<\/a>, a GlobalData owned brand.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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