Uber, Wayve Launch London's First Autonomous Rides — SkimNews
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- Uber and Wayve launched what they call Britain's first autonomous ride-hailing service, matching riders requesting UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort with a Ford Mustang Mach-E running Wayve's AI across London (excluding airports).
- The service is not fully driverless — a Transport for London-licensed driver stays behind the wheel ready to take over, and riders can decline the autonomous match before the car arrives at no extra cost.
- Wayve has been training its AI on London roads since 2018, and more than 140,000 Londoners have already opted in via the Trip Preferences section of the Uber app.
- Uber and Wayve have not disclosed the fleet size, describing it only as a "small number" of Mach-Es fitted with surround sensors and in-cabin screens that display the planned route in 64 languages.
- The London launch is part of a broader Uber–Wayve deal to put Wayve-powered vehicles on the Uber network across 12 global markets, with Nissan Leafs running Wayve's AI on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion hardware due to join the network in Tokyo later this year.
- Britain's Automated Vehicles Act is not expected to be fully implemented until the second half of 2027, though the government opened applications for a commercial autonomous passenger-services pilot in May.
Why it matters: Uber and Wayve get a public, real-world testing ground in one of Europe's densest urban environments with more than 140,000 pre-opted-in London riders, well ahead of the UK's Automated Vehicles Act taking full effect in H2 2027. Because a licensed driver is still required, the launch sidesteps the tougher approval process for fully driverless commercial service while still collecting the ride data needed to scale.
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