Uber Expands Driverless Robotaxi Operations to Abu Dhabi

By Kelly Cloonan

Uber is expanding its driverless robotaxi offerings outside of the U.S. to Abu Dhabi as part of its growing focus on autonomous vehicles.

Riders will be able to match with fully autonomous WeRide vehicles on Uber's platform in parts of Abu Dhabi starting Wednesday, with plans to expand these operations to further areas in the city in the future, the companies said.

Uber and WeRide have offered autonomous rides with a safety operator on board in Abu Dhabi since last December. The new offering removes the safety operator, marking Uber's first fully driverless AV deployment outside of the U.S.

The move is part of Uber and WeRide's growing partnership, which includes plans to expand their AV offerings to Dubai and an additional 15 cities outside of the U.S. and China in the coming years.

Under the partnership, Uber oversees fleet operations and rider support while WeRide is responsible for vehicle testing. The services in Abu Dhabi are on track to achieve breakeven unit economics, the companies said.

Uber already offers autonomous vehicles in a number of cities, but up until now has only offered fully driverless service in some cities in the U.S. through a partnership with Alphabet's Waymo unit.

The ride-hailing platform has been working to rapidly scale its AV operations as competition in the space heats up. It currently partners with more than 20 AV companies across its ride, delivery and freight services, and expects to offer AVs on its network in at least 10 cities by the end of next year.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2025 02:14 ET (07:14 GMT)