CaoCao tailgates WeRide into the UAE as China’s robotaxi rivals get the green light

Chinese autonomous-driving firms are accelerating their expansion into the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with WeRide entering a new operational phase and Geely-backed CaoCao making its debut in the Middle Eastern market.\nWeRide on Monday announced that it had received formal approval from the UAE authorities to launch a fully driverless robotaxi service – without a safety operator on board – which the company described as a significant milestone.\n“This is the first city-level commercial licence for Level 4 autonomous driving outside the United States,” WeRide said in a statement. In 2023, US self-driving technology firm Waymo received approval to operate uncrewed vehicles in San Francisco.\nLevel 4 autonomy – the second-highest under the six-tier classification set by SAE International, the global engineering body that develops vehicle and mobility standards – enables vehicles to operate without human intervention in most conditions.\nThe approval followed what WeRide described as “stringent safety and regulatory approval procedures” as tests without a safety operator began in the second quarter of this year.\nThe Guangzhou-based company, however, began testing in Abu Dhabi as early as 2021 in partnership with TXAI, the region’s robotaxi-hailing platform, and has worked with Uber since December, 2024, to extend its reach.\nCommercial operations are expected to cover key areas including Khalifa City and Masdar City by the end of the year. The new unmanned service will be available on both platforms.\nWith no human operator, WeRide expected to achieve per-vehicle break-even in Abu Dhabi, although the company has not set a date. The firm plans to expand its Middle East fleet to 1,000 vehicles by 2026 and “tens of thousands” by 2030.\nOn the same day, CaoCao, a car-hailing service backed by Chinese carmaker Geely, announced a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to “explore the deployment of autonomous taxi [robotaxi] services” in the city.\nCaoCao is now the fourth Chinese robotaxi company to enter the UAE, following Baidu’s Apollo Go, WeRide and Pony.ai. Its project would also “promote green mobility technologies, including electric vehicles and battery-swap models”, according to a company statement.\nCaoCao only began pilot robotaxi operations in China’s Hangzhou and Suzhou in February this year, making its UAE venture a relatively swift overseas move.\nThe company also plans to establish a regional office in Abu Dhabi, “serving as an operational and collaboration hub for its Middle East business”.\n