Baidu and Uber, in partnership with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), have announced the next phase of their global collaboration, bringing the Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing service to the Uber platform in Dubai.

The service will launch next month, offering fully autonomous vehicles through the Uber app in select areas of Jumeirah.

Deployment will expand based on operational results and regulatory approvals across the city. This supports Dubai’s goal of having 25% of all trips autonomous by 2030.

Passengers in the service area can book an Uber Comfort or UberX ride and be matched with an Apollo Go vehicle, or they can select the “Autonomous” option in the app.

New Horizon, a third-party operator, will manage the fleet.

“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 the 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, utilising Uber’s network to turn our shared vision into reality.”

“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.”

This follows last December’s announcement of plans to launch the service in London and the opening of Apollo Go Park in Dubai in January, the company’s first overseas operations and management hub.

Featured image credit: Baidu