Following a successful partnership in the UAE, Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide and Uber plan to expand to 15 more cities, all outside the USA and China.

The 15 additional cities have not been named but the companies say the expansion will take place globally over the next five years, including in Europe. This accelerates WeRide and Uber’s shared goal of making autonomous mobility a global reality.

Following a successful launch in Abu Dhabi and soon Dubai, the companies have committed to expanding their autonomous vehicle partnership to several new cities each year, all outside the USA and China. In these cities, WeRide’s robotaxi services will be available through the Uber app, and Uber will be responsible for fleet operations.

“We are excited to take our partnership with Uber to new heights,” said Tony Han, CEO of WeRide. “Expanding into new cities across multiple continents reflects both companies’ confidence in our technology and our shared commitment to innovative, sustainable transportation. This expansion aligns with WeRide’s ambitious strategy for global growth, to make autonomous driving more affordable and accessible to people worldwide.”

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, added: “Today’s announcement – one of the biggest partnerships of its kind ever announced – is a significant milestone towards realising the promise of autonomous mobility in more places around the world. By leveraging Uber’s global scale, operational expertise, and leading marketplace technology, we are thrilled to partner with cutting-edge AV companies like WeRide to help them commercialise their vehicles and bring the benefits of autonomy to more riders.”

WeRide (www.weride.ai) operates in over 30 cities across ten countries, holding driverless permits in China, UAE, Singapore, France and USA. Empowered by the WeRide One platform, it provides autonomous driving products and services that address transportation needs across mobility, logistics and sanitation.

Uber (www.uber.com) started in 2010 and has since carried out more than 58 billion trips.

• Autonomous mobility firm Pony AI (pony.ai) has announced a partnership to deploy its robotaxis on the Uber platform. The partnership is expected to launch in the Middle East later this year, with a goal of scaling deployments to additional international markets. Once available, when a rider requests a qualifying ride on the Uber app, they may be presented with the option to have their trip fulfilled by a Pony.ai autonomous vehicle. During the initial pilot, these vehicles will have a safety operator onboard, until the companies’ fully autonomous commercial launch.