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UAE Accelerates Autonomous Vehicle Rollout Partnering With Chinese Tech Firms

UAE officials announced plans at the AI Everything 2026 summit to deploy thousands of autonomous taxis and delivery vehicles by 2027. The country aims to become the largest deployer of robotaxis outside China, leveraging expansions by Chinese autonomous driving firms including Baidu Apollo Go, Momenta, and WeRide.

Published Source: Gulf News

Government officials speaking at the AI Everything 2026 summit in Abu Dhabi announced that the UAE is accelerating plans to deploy thousands of autonomous taxis and delivery vehicles by 2027, according to Gulf News.

Faisal Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President and Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, stated that the UAE aims to become the largest deployer of robotaxis in the world outside of China. Officials highlighted that the UAE's flexible regulatory ecosystem provides an operational advantage for rolling out advanced autonomous transport.

The deployment builds on the recent Middle East expansion of Chinese autonomous driving companies, including Baidu Apollo Go, Momenta, and WeRide.

In addition, Ahmed Tamim Hisham Al Kuttab, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Government Enablement, stated that the emirate targets becoming the world's first AI-native government by 2027.

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