Uber and Wayve win licences for supervised robotaxis in London
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[LONDON] Uber Technologies and UK startup Wayve Technologies are preparing to launch their robotaxi service in London with a safety driver, getting out ahead of Waymo and Baidu’s planned rollouts.
Wayve’s autonomous cars received private hire vehicle licences in London, the companies said on Wednesday (Aug 5).
Under the authorisation, which is also held by rideshare operators, the Wayve vehicles will still have a supervisor aboard each ride, with their hands off the wheel unless an intervention is required. A different kind of licence that allows for unmanned operations would require further regulatory approvals.
Riders who have expressed interest via sign-up will be able to try the service this summer ahead of a full rollout, according to the statement.
The move ratchets up the growing rivalry between Uber and Alphabet’s Waymo on the international stage, as the two companies prepare for their exclusive partnership in the US to end in 2028.
Their souring relationship has raised concerns among some investors about Uber’s future, as they view Waymo – the leading robotaxi provider in the US – as a crucial partner for Uber’s ambition to become the go-to commercialisation platform for these cars.
Uber has disclosed plans to offer autonomous rides in more than 10 cities globally with other robotaxi partners by the end of the year, including Wayve and Nuro, though those will be limited in scale at launch.
Waymo, on the other hand, is currently testing its robotaxis on the streets of London and plans to offer them without a human behind the wheel this year via its own app. China’s Baidu began testing its Apollo Go robotaxis last week and expects a public rollout in 2027 through the Freenow taxi app, which was acquired by Lyft last year.
The supervised robotaxi service will be offered using Wayve’s development vehicles, which are electric Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs equipped with cameras, radar sensors and the self-driving software the startup has developed, Wayve CEO Alex Kendall said in an interview last month.
Wayve plans to eventually offer a fully driverless experience in future vehicles manufactured by Nissan Motor Co. once it clears the necessary regulatory validations, its CEO said. BLOOMBERG
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