Dubai Crown Prince Launches City’s Fully Driverless Taxis With A Ride In The Passenger Seat

Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan, launches City’s self-driving taxis with a ride in the passenger seat.

Powered by advanced AI and sensors, the fully autonomous taxis is developed by China’s Baidu Apollo Go.

Official launch of the self-driving service will be followed by public rollout of 100 RT6 taxi vehicles in March 2026.

Operated in multiple Chinese cities, Baidu’s Apollo Go has logged over 240 million kilometers of driving without a major safety accident.

In addition, China’s largest fully driverless robotaxi service features over 140 million kilometers in fully driverless mode.

Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has officially launched self-driving robot taxis with a ride in the passenger seat, marking a major milestone in the Oil rich emirate’s push toward next-generation transport.

Powered by advanced AI, sensors and real-time decision systems, the fully autonomous service, developed by China’s Baidu Apollo Go, is set for a public rollout in March 2026 with 100 RT6 taxi vehicles.

“On my way to the World Governments Summit 2026, I took a ride in a fully autonomous taxi, enabled by artificial intelligence, advanced sensing technologies, and autonomous decision-making systems,” he wrote while announcing the launch of the service.

• See Also : Mercedes-Benz Partners With Nvidia To Bring Robotaxi Service Based On New S-Class

“I have directed the official launch of the autonomous taxi service, set to commence next month with 100 fully autonomous vehicles joining our fleet…. This is only the beginning of our journey to the future. The best is yet to come for Dubai,” Al Maktoum, who is also the Minister of Defence of the UAE, added.

The launch of this fully driverless service comes less than six months after Baidu’s Apollo Go and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deploy 1000 Autonomous Vehicles in Dubai.

“Under the terms of the MoU, Apollo Go and RTA will initiate a trial of 100 autonomous taxis in 2025, starting hosting passengers on fully driverless rides in 2026. The plan is to expand the fleet to over 1,000 vehicles,” Baidu wrote at the time.

Operated in multiple Chinese cities, Baidu’s Apollo Go has logged over 240 million kilometers of driving without a major safety accident. In addition, China’s largest fully driverless robotaxi service features over 140 million kilometers in fully driverless mode.

• See Also : Mercedes And China’s Momenta Begins Robotaxi Service In Abu Dhabi Using Self-driving S-Class