Chinese autonomous driving outfit WeRide is planning to roll out hundreds of self-driving vehicles in the UAE by 2025,The Nationalreports. The company currently operates a fleet of 10 autonomous vehicles — including 8 robotaxis and 2 robo buses — in the country, but received a license to trial its range of vehicles in the UAE, including its line of autonomous trucks, earlier this month.

WeRide is also making inroads into KSA: The company last year collaborated with the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) on tests of a robo bus route in Saudi Arabia. Later that same year, WeRide also inked an agreement with KSA’s Ajlan & Brothers Holding Group to promote self-driving vehicles in the kingdom.

The UAE is leading the charge on autonomous driving: The country recently inked an MoU with Swedish electric and autonomous trucking startup Einride that will see fast tracked deployment of 200 self-driving vehicles alongside 2k EVs to operate along a 550 km freight grid. Dubai is angling to have 25% of all of its road trips automated by 2030 as part of a government-backed strategy.

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