More Robotaxi + Ride-Hailing Partnerships
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A handful more partnerships between robotaxi companies and ride-hailing apps have popped out in recent days and weeks.
Baidu x Lyft & Uber in London
First of all, we’ve got Baidu partnering with Uber and Lyft in London. Uber and Lyft testing of the Baidu Apollo Go robotaxi system is supposed to start sometime in the first half of next year.
“It’s official: Lyft and Baidu are bringing AVs to London. Riders across the city will be the first in the region to experience Baidu’s Apollo Go vehicles. We expect to start testing our initial fleet with dozens of vehicles next year — pending regulatory approval — through the Lyft and Freenow ecosystem, with plans to scale to hundreds from there,” Lyft CEO David Risher wrote. Here are more details from Risher’s post:
- Baidu is the world’s largest AV operator with 17M+ cumulative rideshare rides, 22 cities globally
- 240M+ km of autonomous driving, and 140M+ km completed in fully driverless mode
- Fully-electric RT6 vehicles, purpose-built for rideshare
“Our hybrid network — AVs and drivers working together — will serve all of London’s travel needs. We’re working closely with Transport for London regulators and local communities to expand the rideshare market and create more opportunities for everyone. More to come, but can’t wait to see the future of mobility arrive in one of the world’s greatest cities.”
It seems more or less the same as Lyft’s partnership with Waymo, and Uber’s with Waymo and Baidu. That’s not a bad thing, just further expansion of a diversified robotaxi approach across different markets.
As noted above, Uber is also partnering with Baidu in London. “Exciting news for the UK: we’re teaming up with Baidu’s Apollo Go to pilot autonomous vehicles in London! Testing is expected to start in the first half of 2026, under the UK’s frontier plan to begin trials for self-driving vehicles. We’re excited to accelerate Britain’s leadership in the future of mobility, bringing another safe and reliable travel option to Londoners next year,” the company announced earlier this week.
WeRide & Uber in Abu Dhabi
WeRide and Uber have teamed up in Abu Dhabi and recently launched fully driverless robotaxi service in the UAE capital.
“The launch was supported by the world’s first city-level fully driverless Robotaxi permit outside the United States (U.S.),” Uber announced. “Abu Dhabi is the first city outside the U.S. to host fully driverless Robotaxi operations on the Uber platform.” It’s also the first Middle East city to get driverless robotaxi deployment.
Initial public, commercial robotaxi operations are on Yas Island. “Passengers can now be matched with a WeRide Robotaxi through Uber Comfort or UberX, and can also book a WeRide Robotaxi through the new ‘Autonomous’ category, Uber’s first dedicated autonomous ride option globally,” Uber wrote. “In October 2025, WeRide’s Robotaxi secured a federal permit to conduct fully driverless Robotaxi commercial operations. Following this, the ITC granted WeRide and Tawasul the first operational license for a fully driverless commercial Robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi. The initial phase will be operated jointly by WeRide and Tawasul on the Uber platform.”
But will these robotaxi services actually make money? Well, I’m not entirely clear what this means, but Uber added the following: “With the fully driverless commercial launch, latest permit, and ongoing improvements in vehicle utilization, the WeRide-Uber Robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi are on track to achieve breakeven unit economics.” Hmm. There are different milestones on the path to profitability.
Now, if you’ve been covering the robotaxi transition for a while, you might remember other robotaxi announcements about Abu Dhabi. Indeed, there have been robotaxis in operation there for years — but not fully driverless. I know, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but basically there were human supervisors/safety operators all that time. In fact, it’s WeRide that has been doing that the longest.
“WeRide maintains a 4-year first mover advantage in autonomous vehicle deployment in Abu Dhabi, having operated Robotaxis in Abu Dhabi since 2021. In 2023, it became the first company in the UAE to receive a national license covering all types of self-driving vehicles, authorizing autonomous testing and operation on public roads across the country, subject to emirate-level approvals,” Uber added. “In December 2024, WeRide and Uber launched their Robotaxi ride-hailing partnership in Abu Dhabi – the largest commercial Robotaxi service outside the U.S. and China. The partnership expanded in July 2025 to cover about half of Abu Dhabi’s core areas, including Al Reem and Al Maryah. By the end of 2025, WeRide and Uber plan to extend services to cover additional areas in Abu Dhabi city core. WeRide currently has over 100 Robotaxis in the Middle East.”
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