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Soon, book an autonomous taxi in Dubai via Uber app
Dubai residents may soon be able to book Apollo Go driverless taxis on Uber, with the service expected to launch in the coming month
- PUBLISHED: Tue 10 Feb 2026, 12:27 PM
Dubai residents may soon be able to book and ride in a fully driverless taxi through the Uber app.
Baidu, Inc. and Uber Technologies, in partnership with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), have announced that Apollo Go autonomous vehicles will launch on the Uber platform in Dubai in the coming month.
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The service will first roll out in select areas of Jumeirah. It will expand to other parts of the city based on operational learnings and regulatory approvals.
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When booking a ride within the service area, passengers may be matched with an Apollo Go vehicle while selecting UberX or Uber Comfort. Riders will also see a new 'Autonomous' option inside the Uber app. Fleet management will be handled by a third-party operator, New Horizon.
The move supports Dubai’s goal of making 25 per cent of all transportation trips autonomous by 2030.
“Bringing Apollo Go to Dubai via the Uber platform marks a pivotal step in our mission to provide safe, efficient, and accessible autonomous mobility worldwide,” said Nan Yang, vice president of Baidu and general manager of Overseas Business Unit, Intelligent Driving Group. “As a key deliverable of the strategic partnership between Apollo Go and Uber announced last July, this deployment officially brings our autonomous ride-hailing service to Dubai, utilizing Uber’s vast network to turn our shared vision into reality.”
Uber said the partnership will help expand public access to autonomous mobility.
“We are excited to partner with Baidu as we continue to grow our autonomous footprint across Dubai. Just as we helped millions of people try out EVs for the first time, we will expand consumer access to autonomous technology in major cities around the world,” said Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous at Uber. “With more than 20 AV partners already completing millions of autonomous trips annually, Uber is the global platform where the autonomous vehicle industry can launch at scale."
The announcement follows previous expansion plans. In December, the companies said they would bring the autonomous ride-hailing service to London, a right-hand drive market. In January, Apollo Go also inaugurated Apollo Go Park in Dubai, its first overseas operations and management hub.
Apollo Go is one of the world’s leading autonomous ride-hailing service providers. The company has logged more than 240 million autonomous kilometres globally. Of this, over 140 million kilometres were completed in fully driverless mode.
It currently operates in 22 cities. Weekly ride numbers have crossed 250,000, and the service has completed more than 17 million rides as of October 31, 2025.
With this launch, Dubai takes another step toward becoming a global hub for autonomous transport.
SM Ayaz Zakir is a Senior Correspondent with a flair for extraordinary stories. His playground? Every corner of the UAE. He often ventures into remote corners of the country to capture compelling news and human interest stories.
