Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the launch of official operations for its fully autonomous RT6 taxi vehicles, developed by Baidu’s Apollo Go, with a public rollout scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. The service is designed to operate safely on roads open to live traffic.

As part of the launch, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum took a ride in the autonomous vehicle to the World Governments Summit at Madinat Jumeirah, marking a milestone toward the commercial deployment of the service. During the journey, he was briefed on the vehicle’s operating system, which combines artificial intelligence, advanced sensors, and autonomous decision-making to enable safe navigation in urban environments.

The launch was attended by Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the RTA’s Board of Executive Directors.

The driverless taxi project is the result of co-operation between the RTA and Baidu Apollo Go, which began following discussions held during the 2024 edition of the World Governments Summit. These talks focused on opportunities in autonomous mobility and aligned with Dubai’s strategy to accelerate the adoption of future transport technologies.

According to the RTA, the RT6 represents the sixth generation of autonomous taxi vehicles and has been developed for large-scale deployment. It is equipped with more than 40 sensors, including high-precision LiDAR systems, multi-band radars, and advanced cameras, enabling real-time perception, decision-making, and compliance with transport safety standards.

The vehicle operates on an advanced software ecosystem that integrates real-time data, high-definition maps, and deep-learning algorithms, allowing it to navigate complex urban environments and interact safely with vehicles, pedestrians, and intersections.

The technology is backed by extensive operational experience, with autonomous vehicles logging more than 150 million km of safe driving and completing over 10 million trips across multiple cities, supporting scalable commercial deployment.

Co-operation between the RTA and Baidu progressed rapidly, leading to the signing of a memorandum of understanding and the launch of operational trials on selected roads across the emirate. The transition from planning to implementation was completed in approximately 10 months.

Baidu Apollo Go has also opened an autonomous vehicle operations and control center in Dubai—its first such facility outside China. Located at Dubai Science Park, the 2,000-sq-m center will manage fleet operations, vehicle monitoring, software updates, maintenance, and safety testing, and will support the phased expansion of autonomous taxi services across the emirate.