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For those living in London, the sight of a robotaxi navigating the city streets has moved from the space age to the everyday. Since earlier this year, Alaphabet-owned Waymo and UK start up Wayve have been piloting their autonomous robotaxis in the UK capital, testing them against the city’s notoriously challenging roads.
Now, for the first time, Londoners will be able to try autonomy first-hand following Uber’s announcement that it will be opening an interest list on its platform for customers eager to try a Wayve robotaxi for themselves.
The ride-hailing titan announced its partnership with Wayve back in 2024 and will support the company’s technology on the well-loved Uber app. Riders will be able to select an “opt in” function for the chance to be matched with a self-driving vehicle.
Initial journeys will still feature a safety driver, with the long-term goal that they will be removed over time.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO of Wayve Alex Kendall posed for a photo with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, with the caption:
“Was a treat to drive Chancellor Rachel Reeves to London Tech Week in our autonomous robotaxi to give her opening speech”.
The current Labour government has been vocal in its support of autonomous solutions. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said self-driving technology had the potential to “transform how people travel” and create high-skilled jobs across the UK.
Backed by government favour, the companies have suggested that this service could be available in the coming months, meaning those travelling to London this summer could be in with a chance to test out this new technology. Kendall teased that the service would be available to the public “soon”, pending the final stages of regulatory approval.
Unlike rivals Waymo, Wayve’s end-to-end AI approach delivers Level 4 autonomy without relying on extensive mapping, allowing its vehicles to operate outside of a geofence. This AI-driven “reasoning” gives Wayve the competitive advantage when it comes to scaling at speed, as the company does not need to acquire large quantities of geospatial data, which can be time-consuming to collect.
Founded in 2017, Wayve has been testing its vehicles in London since 2018. Now backed by a successful Series D funding round that valued the company at over $8 billion, the company has the financial backing to accelerate the next stage of commercial deployment.
Kendall was enthusiastic that, after years of testing, the technology is now ready to serve the general public, saying:
“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.”
Waymo has plans to deliver its own commercial robotaxi service before the year is through although no clear timeline has been issued.
With three autonomous vehicle companies now testing on London’s streets and Wayve and Uber teetering on the precipice of a commercial launch, the capital is positioning itself at the forefront of Europe’s race to deploy self-driving services at scale.
Londoners can now register their interest in testing Wayve’s autonomous technology on the Uber app today.
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