WeRide Secures Landmark Licence to Launch Driverless Taxis in Abu Dhabi

Editorial Team

Last updated 14-11-2025

3 min

Abu Dhabi will allow WeRide to operate fully driverless robotaxis, reshaping urban transport.

WeRide has obtained the first city-level commercial licence for Level 4 autonomous driving outside the U.

Partnered with Uber and TXAI, WeRide claims the largest commercial robotaxi fleet outside China and the U.

Experienced nearly a million kilometres, WeRide's driverless models are monitored remotely for safety.

The UAE emerges as a leader in autonomous tech, potentially setting a global blueprint for integration.

If you’ve been waiting for the day you could hop into a taxi with no one at the wheel, Abu Dhabi might just get there before most other cities. Chinese autonomous driving firm WeRide has received the green light from the UAE’s federal government to begin fully driverless robotaxi operations in the capital—a move that could easily reshape how people get around.

The authorisation, issued back in October by the UAE’s Regulations Lab under the Cabinet Secretariat, allows WeRide to operate without any safety operator sitting inside the car. According to the company, this marks the first city‑level commercial licence for Level 4 autonomous driving granted outside the United States. In plain English, Level 4 vehicles can handle most situations on their own, even if something unexpected happens on the road.

I reckon this is quite a bold step, considering how cautious regulators usually are about self‑driving cars. WeRide’s taxis will be available through Uber and TXAI in Abu Dhabi, a nice touch for those already using these apps regularly. It’s been operating in the Emirate since 2021 thanks to a partnership with TXAI, and later teamed up with Uber in late 2024, building what it claims to be the largest commercial robotaxi fleet outside China and the U.S. That’s not a small feat, really. The company says its cars have already clocked nearly a million kilometres on local roads – enough to reveal what works and what doesn’t when robots take the wheel.

What’s interesting is that WeRide has already tested fully driverless models since early 2025, with backup monitoring handled remotely and plenty of oversight from the Abu Dhabi Integrated Transport Centre. I’ve spoken with a few founders working in mobility tech across the region, and they often say the UAE tends to move faster than others when it comes to regulatory adaptation. I can see why—they’re making driverless taxis happen before many Western markets dare to.

On the flip side, there’s still the question of how passengers will warm up to the idea. Sitting alone in a car steered entirely by software could feel a bit of a faff at first, no matter how sleek the design is. But then again, when similar projects launched in China, public hesitation faded rather quickly once people realised the rides were safe, punctual, and whisper‑quiet.

The UAE seems keen to attract other autonomous players too. CaoCao Mobility, backed by China’s Geely, recently joined forces with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to explore its own robotaxi rollout, putting it in the same lane as WeRide, Pony.ai, and Baidu’s Apollo Go. It’s becoming quite the race—though, if you ask me, a healthy one that could make the Emirates a testing ground for next‑gen mobility.

All told, this new licence says as much about the UAE’s confidence in emerging technology as it does about WeRide’s capability. If these trials go smoothly, the country might soon be seen as a global blueprint for integrating autonomous services into everyday life. And that, well… that’s something any startup enthusiast in the MENA region should definately keep an eye on.

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