WAYVE and Uber are preparing to launch an autonomous taxi service in London as early as this summer, with the British self-driving technology company saying it is awaiting final approvals before rollout.
The launch would make Wayve the first company to introduce a commercial autonomous taxi service in Britain, ahead of rivals Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, and China's Baidu.
"We're hopeful to be launching in the next couple of months. We're ready to go. We're just waiting for a couple of last approvals," Kaity Fischer, Wayve's vice president of commercial and operations, told AFP.
Self-driving taxis already operate in the United States and China, but a commercial launch in London would be the first in Europe.
Uber on Monday opened an interest list for UK customers who want to receive updates ahead of the service's launch in the coming months.
Customers will not initially be offered fully driverless rides, as Wayve plans to launch the service with an operator behind the wheel.
"At launch, a licensed operator will be on board monitoring behind the wheel, as part of our phased introduction," the company said in a press release.
Wayve said fully driverless operations will begin "in the future", but did not provide a timeframe.
Founded in 2017, the company develops artificial intelligence systems for vehicles that learn from their surroundings by processing data from sensors rather than relying on pre-mapped routes.
"Wayve's AI learns from experience like a human driver, enabling it to adapt to new roads, vehicles and weather conditions," the company said.
"While we're starting our launch here in London, we'll quickly be expanding to Tokyo and ten more cities afterwards," Fischer said.
Chinese internet giant Baidu, in partnership with ride-sharing app Lyft, also plans to launch a driverless taxi service in the British capital.
Waymo is also planning to enter the market.
The authorisation of such services depends on the implementation of a law on automated vehicles that came into force in 2024.
