News

Uber And WeRide Roll Out Driverless Robotaxis In Abu Dhabi

Yas Island becomes the first site where Uber offers fully autonomous rides outside the US, backed by Abu Dhabi’s city-level permit.

Published

9 months ago

November 26, 2025

Nour Nasir

uber and weride roll out driverless robotaxis in abu dhabi

Uber and WeRide have switched on fully driverless robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi, marking the first commercial rollout of Level 4 autonomous vehicles in the Middle East and the first market outside the US to host them on Uber’s platform.

The launch rests on a city-level permit issued by Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) and supported by local fleet operator Tawasul — a regulatory green light both companies say is rare outside the US. It follows a federal permit WeRide secured in late 2025, which authorized fully driverless commercial operations across the UAE subject to emirate approval.

Operations begin on Yas Island with no driving specialist required inside the vehicle. Expansion is slated across the capital through 2025, including districts already covered by earlier supervised pilots. Riders can request WeRide cars through Uber Comfort, UberX, or a new “Autonomous” category — Uber’s first dedicated self-driving option anywhere. “This milestone represents a major step toward the large-scale deployment of self-driving mobility solutions in the UAE,” the companies said in a recent press release.

The firms point to utilization gains, new licensing, and a maturing regulatory framework as signs that the service can reach breakeven. Their joint robotaxi partnership launched in 2024 and grew again in 2025 to cover about half of Abu Dhabi’s core areas, including Al Reem and Al Maryah. More coverage is planned for the city center by year-end.

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WeRide has operated in Abu Dhabi since 2021 and holds a national license authorizing autonomous testing and operations across public roads. The company now runs more than 100 robotaxis in the region, giving it a four-year head start in local deployment. Uber and WeRide both frame Abu Dhabi as a base for expanding to thousands of robotaxis across the Middle East.

The move strengthens the UAE’s push to embed autonomous mobility within its broader digitalization agenda and positions Abu Dhabi as a live test bed for commercial driverless transport.

News

Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”

Instagram’s first wordmark refresh in a decade arrives with new fonts, a restrained gradient — and a Reddit verdict of sidegrade.

Published

4 days ago

August 14, 2026

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Although Instagram’s famous camera icon hasn’t changed, the company has refreshed the handwritten wordmark at the top of its app. This is the first redesign we’ve seen in ten years, and one the internet promptly set about renaming.

“The wordmark at the top of the app hasn’t changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote in a post on August 13, describing the new version as “cleaner and more modern” while keeping references to the original design.

Instagram says its team explored hundreds of options — all-caps lettering, camera-inspired concepts, even literal handwriting — before returning to script. “Script reflects individuality, so referencing that felt right,” Instagram director of product design Jasmine Probst said in Meta’s announcement. “The new wordmark is bolder and simpler, with touches of unexpectedness. It cues individual expression, a personal voice, both of which have always been core to Instagram”.

The wordmark is part of a broader brand overhaul: an updated Instagram Sans typeface, two new fonts — the hand-drawn Instagram Pen and Instagram Mono — plus refreshed motion and layouts, and more restrained use of the signature gradient. The wordmark is rolling out globally now, with the rest arriving throughout 2026 and beyond.

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The design mixes cursive and print lettering, some characters connected and others floating free. That hybrid approach, combined with unusually shaped “s” and “r” characters, led some users to conclude the logo actually reads “Instagzam”. On the r/logodesign subreddit, one user said the wordmark looked “fan-made,” like something built in Canva; another called it “an unsettling mix of manuscript and cursive”; a third summarized it as a “sidegrade” — or, inevitably, a “zidegrade”.

Not everyone was hostile to the new look. Some found the half-cursive design stylish and surprisingly readable, while others called it an improvement on its predecessor, and one commenter argued Instagram was simply adopting minimalist branding later than everyone else. Either way, the platform now has a refreshed identity, three updated fonts, and an unofficial new pronunciation.