Driverless WeRide robotaxis for Uber.
Courtesy: Uber
Uber on Wednesday rolled out totally driverless rides in its fourth market, launching the service in Abu Dhabi in partnership WeRide, a Chinese language autonomous car firm.
The ride-hailing firm mentioned the launch within the United Arab Emirates capital represents the first driverless robotaxi service within the Center East. Within the U.S., Uber already presents robotaxi providers in Austin, Phoenix and Atlanta by Alphabet’s Waymo.
Riders in Abu Dhabi can guide a WeRide robotaxi when requesting an UberX or Uber Consolation journey, the ride-hailing firm mentioned.
WeRide, which is listed on the Nasdaq, shaped its partnership with Uber in September 2024 and started providing autonomous rides with an operator on board in Abu Dhabi final December. Uber and WeRide additionally debuted robotaxi rides with a security operator on board in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, in October. Uber has mentioned it plans to roll out the WeRide service to 15 extra cities, together with in Europe, over the following 5 years.
In recent times, Uber has guess massive on autonomous car know-how by partnerships.
Uber began providing a robotaxi service in Austin and Atlanta earlier this 12 months, and in Phoenix in late 2023. In July, the corporate landed a six-year robotaxi cope with electrical car maker Lucid and AV startup Nuro.
WeRide, in the meantime, has launched full driverless robotaxi providers in China’s Beijing and Guangzhou, in keeping with its web site.
Uber has not mentioned the way it splits income from robotaxi rides with its companions.
Rivals have additionally readily adopted the know-how, with Lyft asserting a cope with Waymo in September to launch robotaxis in Nashville subsequent 12 months.
Uber mentioned the driverless autos in Abu Dhabi will function in sure areas of Yas Island. Riders can increase their probability of a robotaxi drive by deciding on the autonomous possibility. On-board assist is out there throughout the journey by the app and an in-vehicle pill.
WATCH: WeRide CEO: We’re utilizing each Tesla and Waymo’s strategy to scale robotaxi operations
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