Image: Wayve
Global ride-hailing platform Uber and British autonomous driving company Wayve have opened a public interest list for self-driving taxi rides in London, signalling that the long-planned launch of their autonomous vehicle service is now approaching.
The move comes a year after the two companies announced plans to trial Level 4 autonomous vehicles on UK roads and follows the UK government’s decision to open applications for commercial self-driving passenger services.
According to Wayve CEO Alex Kendall, Londoners can now sign up to experience autonomous rides on Uber, with services expected to launch “soon” subject to final regulatory approval.
“We have a decade of experience teaching our AI to drive and I can’t wait for folks to experience how smooth and confident the experience is, from booking on Uber to seeing the Wayve AI Driver do what it does best: respond to tricky scenarios on the fly, navigate varying weather conditions and seamlessly executing pickups and dropoffs, from our King’s Cross HQ to Heathrow,” Kendall said.
Initially, rides will be supervised by a trained human operator behind the wheel. Uber said customers who request a ride through its app may be matched with a Wayve-equipped vehicle at no additional cost compared with a conventional Uber journey. Riders will also be able to decline an autonomous vehicle and request a human-driven trip instead.
Wayve’s system uses cameras, radar and onboard artificial intelligence rather than relying on high-definition maps. The company has spent several years testing in London and describes the capital as one of the world’s most challenging urban driving environments.
Founded in 2017 by two University of Cambridge PhD students, Wayve raised $1.2 billion in February, with Uber among the strategic backers. A further $300 million from Uber is contingent on deploying robotaxis beginning in London. Early deployments are expected to involve a relatively small fleet before scaling over time, with plans to expand to more than ten cities globally, including Tokyo later this year.
London emerges as a robotaxi battleground
The announcement adds a new competitive dimension to London’s emerging autonomous vehicle market.
Wayve’s launch is expected to place Uber in direct competition with Waymo, the autonomous driving subsidiary of Alphabet, which has also been testing autonomous vehicles in London.
Waymo recently began autonomous driving operations with safety drivers in the capital as part of preparations for a future commercial service. The company has previously said it aims to launch a public passenger offering in London, subject to regulatory approvals.
The rivalry is notable because Uber and Waymo remain partners elsewhere. In the United States, Waymo vehicles are available through the Uber app in cities including Austin and Atlanta. At the same time, Uber has spent the past two years building relationships with a growing number of autonomous vehicle developers, including Wayve.
Previous Zag Daily reporting found that Uber now works with more than 25 autonomous vehicle companies globally as it seeks to position itself as the platform connecting riders with autonomous services rather than developing the technology itself.
The London deployment will provide an early indication of whether Uber’s strategy of partnering with multiple autonomous vehicle developers can succeed in a market where one of its partners, Waymo, is simultaneously becoming a competitor.
The latest launch follows the UK government’s recent decision to open applications for commercial self-driving passenger services. The pilot programme is intended to gather operational data before broader autonomous vehicle regulations come into force under the UK’s Automated Vehicles Act.
With both Wayve and Waymo now preparing passenger services in the capital, London is rapidly becoming one of the most closely-watched testing grounds for the next phase of autonomous ride-hailing.
