Uber Technologies announced during its third-quarter 2026 earnings update that it expects to have nearly 200 fully driverless vehicles operating on roads across the United Arab Emirates by the end of this year, according to prepared management remarks.
The UAE expansion forms a key pillar of Uber's broader autonomous mobility roadmap, which targets increasing total driverless vehicles on its platform worldwide from approximately 700 at the end of 2026 to more than 2,000 by the end of 2027. Uber stated that the 2027 fleet target will be split roughly evenly between the United States and international markets.
International commercial deployments on the platform are powered predominantly by Chinese autonomous driving leaders. Uber highlighted active driverless partnerships with WeRide, Baidu, and Pony.ai. In Dubai, the ride-hailing company launched commercial robotaxi fare services in coastal districts such as Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim in partnership with the Roads and Transport Authority, utilizing WeRide and Baidu Apollo Go autonomous electric vehicles.
Uber noted that partners operating autonomous vehicles on its network achieve higher daily trip volumes than standalone deployments, supporting the platform's strategy to concentrate deployment resources on commercially viable fleets.
Sources
- Arabian Gulf Business Insight | AGBI · 2026-11-05
