The evolution of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology has catalyzed a new era in urban mobility, with mainland Chinese robotaxi companies emerging as global leaders. As domestic competition intensifies and profitability remains elusive in mainland China, firms like Baidu’s Apollo Go, WeRide and Pony.ai are accelerating their international expansion, marked with recent actions in the Middle East.

A unique mix of regulatory openness, government support and economic incentives for automation makes the Middle East a strategic beachhead for global ambitions. While US firms like Waymo have not targeted this region for robotaxi expansion, others are looking to scale their driverless taxi operations across the Gulf states, especially in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative plans for 15% of public transport vehicles to be autonomous by 2030 as part of its push for smart, sustainable cities. The country also launched the Future Mobility Sandbox, an AV testing area at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

In 2023, Pony.ai became a part of Abu Dhabi’s SAVI cluster, enabling it to test its AV technologies at the Yas Island testing facility. Backed by a US$100 million NEOM investment, Pony.ai formed a joint venture to develop and deploy AVs and smart infrastructure in NEOM and other key markets in the Middle East and North Africa region. Recently, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai’s RTA to roll out its advanced robotaxi fleet, starting with supervised trials in late 2025 and a goal of launching fully driverless operations by 2026.

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