Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies will begin using self-driving cars from China's WeRide in its Abu Dhabi fleet later this year, expanding the emirate's autonomous public transport options and boosting its sustainability push.
The rides will be initially available on Saadiyat Island and Yas Island, with plans to expand further. The companies did not confirm if the expansion would be within Abu Dhabi or also further across the UAE.
The self-driving vehicles will deliver “much needed, affordable, sustainable and safe mobility solutions to a global audience”, said Tony Han, founder and chief executive of WeRide.
The start date of operations will be announced closer to launch and the number of autonomous cars to be deployed in Abu Dhabi has not been disclosed.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, told The National in June, that he expected the option of autonomous vehicles to be available in the UAE “soon”, expressing optimism in its self-driving strategy in the Middle East “over the next five to 10 years”.
The UAE aims to become a leader in smart mobility systems as part of its efforts to boost both sustainability and adopt the latest technology.
Abu Dhabi already has its own fleet of driverless taxis on Yas Island run by TXAI, the UAE's first driverless taxi service. During 2022's Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, TXAI operated a driverless bus service to carry fans.
Meanwhile, WeRide was granted the first preliminary national licence for self-driving cars by the UAE Cabinet in July 2023.
At the time, WeRide said it was to begin testing all types of autonomous vehicles on UAE roads, including robotaxis, robobuses, robovans and robosweepers. Later that month, it unveiled plans to rapidly expand its presence in the country, particularly by putting hundreds of vehicles on the roads by 2025.
Guangzhou-based WeRide manufactures vehicles with level-4 autonomy – one step below full autonomy, which is when a car is entirely capable of driving itself without the intervention of a human.
In October last year, Abu Dhabi also unveiled the Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (Savi) cluster at clean energy hub Masdar City, aimed at establishing the emirate as a major centre for the development of high-tech vehicles.
It is also aimed at helping the emirate diversify its economy and create thousands of jobs: the multi-modal hub is expected to contribute between Dh90 billion and Dh120 billion ($24.5 billion and $32.7 billion) to the UAE's economy and generate up to 50,000 jobs, officials said at the time.
Meanwhile, Dubai also began supervised testing of driverless vehicles on its public roads in October last year after US self-driving tech company Cruise, which is backed by General Motors and Honda Motor, was issued with a trial permit.
San Francisco-based Uber said last month it will include Cruise robotaxis in its US fleet in 2025. The company has been offering driverless cars in Phoenix, Arizona, on its platform since October last year through an agreement with Alphabet's Waymo.
Uber will continue to work with other self-driving technology companies, “to help bring the benefits of autonomous technology to cities around the world”, Mr Khosrowshahi said in Wednesday's statement.
The value of the global autonomous vehicle market is projected to hit more than $13.6 trillion by 2030, from an estimated $1.92 trillion in 2023, growing at a compound annual rate of 32.3 per cent, data from Fortune Business Insights shows.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
