Uber and British AI startup Wayve are set to roll out AI-powered driverless cars on the Uber app in London this summer, marking the first commercial deployment of Wayve's autonomous vehicle technology in any city.
Uber will begin by offering a limited number of rides in robotaxis equipped with Wayve's self-driving system to paying passengers, with the vehicles operating within selected areas of London.
In the initial phase, the cars will still have a trained, licensed Uber driver behind the wheel to monitor the road and take over if necessary, before the companies move to fully driverless operations, according to CNN.
Wayve executives say the launch follows several years of on-road testing in London's dense and complex traffic, where the company has been trialling its technology since 2018.
Wayve's system uses AI models trained on real-world driving data so vehicles can interpret road conditions and make decisions without relying solely on pre-mapped routes.
The cars are expected to use a combination of cameras, radar, and lidar sensors to detect other road users, traffic signals, and obstacles in real time. The company describes its approach as "embodied AI," designed to learn from fleet data and improve performance across different cities and driving environments.
London will be the first city in the world where Wayve's technology is used for commercial journeys, ahead of plans to expand robotaxi services to more than 10 cities, including Tokyo, over the coming years, the Standard reported.
Uber and Wayve previously announced a strategic partnership that includes a financial investment from Uber as part of Wayve's Series C fundraising, aimed at speeding up development of Level 4 autonomous vehicles for eventual large-scale deployment on the Uber network.
The collaboration also covers work with global carmakers to integrate Wayve's software into future vehicles, alongside advanced driver-assistance features at Level 2+ and Level 3.
Before full commercial rollout, the service still requires regulatory approval from the UK Department for Transport, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and Transport for London, as per the BBC.
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