Uber beats Waymo to launch first robotaxi service in London
Uber has launched London's first commercial robotaxi service using self-driving technology from British startup Wayve, with safety drivers still on board for now.
Uber has beaten rival Waymo to become the first company to offer a commercial robotaxi service in London. The vehicles run on autonomous driving technology developed by Wayve, a UK startup founded in 2017 by two Cambridge University machine-learning PhD graduates.
For now, every ride will include a safety driver behind the wheel, licensed by Transport for London. Uber says these drivers won't actually control the vehicle and will gradually be phased out as the service moves toward fully driverless operation.
London riders who want to try the service can opt in through the Uber app's settings. When booking an UberX, Uber Comfort, or Uber Electric trip, they may — but aren't guaranteed to — be matched with a Wayve-powered vehicle. The initial fleet consists of Ford Mustang Mach-Es, with Nissan Leafs to be added later. Uber will handle maintenance through UK fleet partner Otto Car, while Wayve continues to oversee the driving system itself.
No geofence
Unlike many competitors, Uber says the service won't be restricted to a geofenced area, because Wayve's AV2.0 system is designed to operate beyond the limits of conventional autonomous-driving setups. Rather than relying on lidar sensors, as Waymo and most other robotaxi operators do, Wayve's cars use cameras and radar — an approach closer to Tesla's. The company says its software is hardware-agnostic and doesn't depend on detailed HD maps.
Wayve raised $1.2 billion earlier this year from backers including Uber, Nvidia, Stellantis, Nissan, and Mercedes-Benz, and is separately working with Stellantis on hands-free driving technology.
Waymo has said it plans to launch its own London robotaxi service before year's end, while Lyft is developing a competing service with China's Baidu, starting in the Brent neighborhood. Uber and Waymo have increasingly diverged on strategy: Uber favors a hybrid network mixing human drivers with robotaxis, while Waymo is pushing toward a fully driverless, rider-only model. Uber has said it intends to invest more than $10 billion in building out its robotaxi business.
