WeRide, Uber collaborate to offer robotaxi services in United Arab Emirates

Chinese robotaxi operator WeRide signed a partnership deal with global ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies, allowing it to tap Uber’s platform to provide robotaxi services in countries excluding China and the U.S. 

The collaboration will begin in the United Arab Emirates. Later this year, customers in Abu Dhabi, capital of the Arabian country, can use the Uber app to book rides in its autonomous vehicles, WeRide said on Sept. 24. 

WeRide received approval in July 2023 to test and operate a fleet of AVs on public roads across the UAE, and said it now runs the largest robotaxi fleet in the Arabian country. 

WeRide, established in the south China city of Guangzhou in 2017, has also been licensed to operate driverless vehicles in China and the U.S. 

But the partnership with Uber “does not contemplate any launches in the United States or China,” WeRide said, without elaborating.

WeRide is the second Chinese company to reach a partnership deal with Uber this year. 

On Aug. 1, BYD Co., China’s largest electrified-vehicle maker, said it signed a “multiyear strategic partnership” with Uber to supply 100,000 full electric vehicles. 

Uber plans to deploy the EVs in Europe and Latin America initially, and in the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand at a later stage.