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Investing.com -- WeRide Corp ADR (NASDAQ:WRD) stock rose 3.8% in Monday’s premarket trading after the autonomous driving technology company announced it has received a permit to conduct fully driverless Robotaxi commercial operations in Abu Dhabi.
The permit, granted on October 31, 2025, allows WeRide’s Robotaxis to operate commercially without an on-board safety driver. This makes WeRide one of the first companies to receive a city-level commercial permit for Level 4 autonomous driving outside the United States, and the first international company to achieve this milestone in the UAE.
Commercial operations will begin on the Uber and TXAI platforms in Abu Dhabi, building on WeRide’s existing presence in the emirate since 2021. The company has been operating Robotaxis with TXAI in Abu Dhabi for four years and launched a partnership with Uber in December 2024, creating what it describes as the largest commercial Robotaxi service outside the U.S. and China.
WeRide Robotaxis have accumulated nearly one million kilometers in Abu Dhabi as of October 2025. The company noted that removing the requirement for an in-vehicle safety officer will enable its Robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi to achieve financial breakeven on unit economics.
The approval follows WeRide’s receipt of the UAE’s first national license for self-driving vehicles in July 2023, which authorized autonomous testing and operation on public roads across the country.
WeRide plans to expand its Middle East fleet to 1,000 Robotaxis by 2026 and aims to deploy tens of thousands of Robotaxis by 2030.
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