Uber and Wayve have launched the first autonomous ride-hailing service in the UK, rolling out in London today. Riders who request an UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort may be matched with a Wayve vehicle at no extra cost, with upfront fares shown in the app. The cars are all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es equipped with Wayve's AI Driver, and riders can switch to a non-autonomous ride before the car arrives if they prefer.
The service operates across London, excluding airports, and starts with a small number of vehicles. Each ride is supervised by a trained, TfL-licensed private hire driver during this initial phase. Doors unlock and the trip begins from the Uber app, and in-vehicle screens support 64 languages. More than 140,000 Londoners had already opted in to the service via Trip Preferences.
Wayve is headquartered and was founded in London, and has been training its technology on the capital's roads since 2018. Its AV2.0 approach relies on an AI Driver that learns from experience rather than high-definition maps. The partnership also includes an investment to put Wayve vehicles on Uber's network in 12 markets, and a Nissan LEAF using Wayve's AI Driver with NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion is planned for Tokyo later this year.
The launch follows Uber's introduction of autonomous rides in Zagreb, its first European city, which involved partners Verne and Pony.ai and operated in key areas including the city center with a licensed operator on board.
Uber says it is working with more than 30 autonomous vehicle partners globally and is on track to facilitate AV trips in up to 15 cities by the end of 2026. The company also intends to become the largest facilitator of AV trips worldwide by 2029, building on the more than 79 billion trips it has facilitated since 2010.
Wayve's CEO and co-founder, Alex Kendall, said, "We're proud to introduce the Wayve AI Driver to the public for the first time right here in London, our home city and one of the most complex driving environments in the world."
