Uber prepares for London robotaxi launch with Wayve

On Monday, Uber announced it has opened an interest list for U.K. customers to ride in Wayve autonomous vehicles (AVs), signaling that the company is preparing to launch a robotaxi—an autonomous vehicle service—in London. The launch of the service remains pending regulatory approval. Once active, the move will place Uber in direct competition with Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving company, in the London market. Uber showcased the interest list alongside a branded, black Ford Mustang Mach-E equipped with Wayve’s self-driving system. Customers who request a ride on the app may be matched with a Wayve vehicle at no additional cost compared to a traditional human-driven ride. Riders can opt to increase their chances of matching with an AV through their account settings, though they will retain the option to decline the match and request a human driver. Initially, these vehicles will operate with a human safety operator behind the wheel.

The partnership is supported by substantial financial backing. Wayve raised $1.2 billion from strategic backers, and its total funding raise could reach $1.5 billion. This potential total includes a $300 million contingent investment from Uber, which is dependent on deploying the vehicles. When the service launches, the vehicles will feature interactive touchscreens that support 64 languages. The timeline for the launch remains open, as the U.K. government is still in the process of developing its autonomous vehicle regulations.

The upcoming London competition follows Waymo’s own expansion into the city. In April, Waymo began testing about 100 of its autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles across a 100-square-mile area of London. This rivalry is complicated by the history of Uber and Waymo, who were once rivals in a trade secrets lawsuit. While the two companies agreed to work together in 2023 by putting Waymo vehicles on the Uber app in Phoenix, and expanded that partnership in March 2025 to Austin and later Atlanta, their relationship has shown signs of strain. Uber executives have publicly criticized Waymo; specifically, Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli posted a video on X calling out the unsafe behavior of a Waymo vehicle, describing the performance as “scary.”

Why it matters

Uber is shifting from a pure ride-hailing platform to an autonomous vehicle orchestrator. By betting on multiple partners like Wayve, the company is attempting to use its scale to challenge Waymo’s position in the autonomous vehicle market.