WeRide, a global leader in autonomous driving technology, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Uber Technologies to roll out an autonomous vehicle pilot in the city.
Under this agreement, the pilot will commence later this year, operating through the Uber app in Dubai. Initially, the fleet of autonomous vehicles at the core of this pilot will operate with a safety driver on board, with the aim for it to develop into a driverless commercial robotaxi service in 2026. The companies confirmed that field preparations, led by WeRide and Uber with strategic support and supervision from RTA, are currently underway.
His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), along with Mr. Madhu Kannan, Chief Business Officer at Uber, and Mr. Ryan Zhan, Regional General Manager of Middle East and Africa at WeRide attended the MoU signing ceremony. The agreement was signed for RTA by Mr. Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan, CEO of the Public Transport Agency, RTA; for Uber by Mr. Frans Hiemstra, Regional General Manager for the Middle East and Africa at Uber; and for WeRide by Mr. Eric Dong, Director of Capital Markets and Corporate Development at WeRide, in the presence of senior officials from all parties.
The signing of the MoU formalizes WeRide’s partnership with Uber and RTA, following their initial announcement in April 2025. It likewise builds on the growth WeRide and Uber’s Robotaxi operations have experienced in Abu Dhabi since December 2024, which marked the first time that autonomous vehicles were offered on the Uber platform outside the US.
WeRide’s new MoU follows the announcement of its partnership with Uber in May 2025, through which the companies will deploy robotaxis in 15 additional major cities globally over the next five years.
