What Abu Dhabi’s commercial driverless car launch means for you

Abu Dhabi made regional history this week by becoming the first city in the Middle East and North Africa to begin full commercial operations of Level 4 autonomous vehicles – driverless cars with no human safety operator inside.
Here’s what the announcement at DRIFTx 2025, held during the inaugural Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week, actually means for residents, regulators and the future of mobility.

The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) has given the green light for commercial rides in fully autonomous vehicles. This is not a pilot, a demo, or supervised testing – it’s real-world, unmanned operations open to the public.

Two companies have received the first-ever commercial permits: WeRide (operating with Uber and Tawasul) and AutoGo–K2 (working with ApolloGo–Baidu).

Both operators have cleared months of testing under the supervision of the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council (SASC) and the UAE Regulations Lab.

To secure a commercial permit, companies had to pass rigorous safety checks, including system performance in normal and complex urban scenarios, sensor reliability and vehicle response patterns, and thousands of kilometres of testing in real Abu Dhabi traffic.

It’s a step-by-step progression from a drive with a safety driver to passenger-seat supervision to eventually no operator inside the vehicle.

WeRide Robotaxis

800,000+ km driven in Abu Dhabi

Up to 20 trips per car in each 12-hour shift

Operating the region’s largest commercial robotaxi network

Running Level 4 tests since Q2 2025 – a first in the Middle East

AutoGo–K2

Achieved full Level 4 approval in under three months on Yas Island

Completed 100,000+ km of on-road autonomous testing.

These results convinced regulators that both fleets are ready for commercial, public-facing deployment.

To maintain safety as cars start operating without humans inside, ITC has built a regional-first digital oversight platform, which:
Tracks every autonomous vehicle in real time
Logs incidents or rule violations instantly
Allows direct coordination between ITC and operators

Ensures full compliance with permit conditions.