Uber Technologies (UBER) stock soared 5.12% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, following news of the company's expanded partnership with China's WeRide to introduce self-driving cars in Dubai. This move marks a significant step in Uber's push into the autonomous vehicle market and its expansion in the Middle East region.

The collaboration, which involves Dubai's Road and Transport Authority, aims to integrate WeRide's self-driving technology into Uber's platform. This partnership aligns with Dubai's ambitious goal of making one-fourth of all city trips autonomous by 2030. It also represents the second city in the region where Uber and WeRide are teaming up, following their robotaxi service launch in Abu Dhabi in December 2024.

Analysts view this development positively, seeing it as a strategic move by Uber to gain a stronghold in the highly promising robotaxi market without incurring the massive R&D costs associated with developing autonomous systems independently. The global robotaxi market is projected to reach $45.7 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 91.8% from 2025 to 2034. This expansion into autonomous vehicles, coupled with Uber's strong performance in its core ridesharing and delivery segments, appears to be driving investor optimism and contributing to the stock's pre-market rally.