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WeRide Granted First Self-Driving Vehicle License In UAE
The Chinese autonomous driving company may soon deploy robotaxis and robobusses across the Emirates and beyond.
Chinese autonomous driving startup WeRide was the first company in the world to hold driverless permits for testing in both China and the USA. Now, the autonomous technologies experts have secured a license to deploy self-driving vehicles in the UAE, having already completed public testing on some routes within the Emirate.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the news on Twitter: “We approved the first national license for self-driving vehicles on the country’s roads, which was granted to a specialized WeRide company”.
Dubai aims to make 25% of its transportation completely autonomous by 2030, so the permit comes at an ideal time. Last month, as part of the Eid al-Adha holiday services, the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of Abu Dhabi announced that visitors to Saadiyat and Yas Islands could experience free autonomous driving car rides, including a vehicle called “TXAI”, which was launched by WeRide in partnership with a local company Bayanat.
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WeRide has developed its state-of-the-art technologies through WeRide One, which the company describes as a “one-for-all and all-for-one platform for urban autonomous driving applications. Designed with high flexibility on both the software and hardware levels”. The platform uses self-evolving deep learning systems to prioritize safety, plus AI algorithms and a fusion of camera, LiDAR, and radar to replace human operators.
In a recent press release WeRide said, “In the future, WeRide will continue to deepen its presence in the Middle East region and bring high-quality autonomous driving technology, products, and services to more customers and consumers”.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
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