Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER.US) partners with Wenyuan Zhihang to offer autonomous taxi services in the United Arab Emirates.

On Wednesday, Uber Technologies, Inc.(UBER.US) and Wenyuan Zhixing announced a strategic partnership, starting in the UAE, to introduce Wenyuan Zhixing's autonomous vehicles onto the Uber Technologies, Inc. platform. In a joint statement, the two companies said that starting later this year, Uber Technologies, Inc. app users in Abu Dhabi will be able to book autonomous taxis. It is understood that Uber Technologies, Inc. has signed a series of agreements with autonomous vehicle companies, including Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US) subsidiary Waymo and General Motors Company (GM.US), as part of its efforts to position itself as a commercialization platform for autonomous vehicles. This is in contrast to its previous ambition to develop autonomous vehicle technology internally. Earlier this month, Uber Technologies, Inc. expanded its partnership with Waymo, introducing autonomous taxis in Austin and Atlanta, USA. In August, Uber Technologies, Inc. partnered with Cruise, which will offer autonomous vehicles on the Uber Technologies, Inc. platform starting next year. According to the statement, Wenyuan Zhixing obtained the UAE's first national-level autonomous driving road test license in July 2023 and operates the largest fleet of autonomous taxis in the Gulf nation. The company had 8 autonomous taxis at the time of obtaining the license. Wenyuan Zhixing is expected to go public in the United States with a valuation of up to $5 billion, but the initial public offering (IPO) has been postponed as the company works on completing the necessary documents for listing. However, the two companies stated that this partnership does not intend to launch any services in the US or Chinese markets.