This is the world’s first city-level L4 autonomous driving commercial license issued outside the United States.
On November 10, WeRide announced that it has officially received approval from the UAE federal government to conduct fully driverless Robotaxi commercial operations in Abu Dhabi.
This marks the world’s first city-level L4 autonomous driving commercial license issued outside the United States, signifying that WeRide’s fully driverless Robotaxi operations in the Middle East have entered a new phase.
According to the license approval granted on October 31, WeRide is authorized to conduct Robotaxi commercial operations without in-vehicle safety operators. The service will be initially launched in Abu Dhabi through the Uber and TXAI platforms, with more operational details to be announced soon.
Public information shows that since 2021, WeRide and TXAI have been collaborating on public Robotaxi operations in Abu Dhabi.
In December 2024, WeRide and Uber launched a Robotaxi ride-hailing partnership in Abu Dhabi, creating the largest commercial Robotaxi fleet outside China and the United States. In July 2025, the two parties further expanded the operational area to cover nearly half of Abu Dhabi’s core urban districts. By the end of 2025, WeRide and its partners aim to cover essentially all core areas of Abu Dhabi.
As of October 2025, the cumulative mileage of WeRide’s Robotaxi vehicles in Abu Dhabi has approached 1 million kilometers.
Starting in the second quarter of 2025, WeRide has been conducting fully driverless Robotaxi testing in Abu Dhabi to validate the reliability of the autonomous driving system in preparation for subsequent commercial operations.
According to the plan, WeRide aims to expand its Robotaxi fleet in the Middle East to 1,000 vehicles by 2026 and to tens of thousands of vehicles by 2030.
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