Waymo has begun testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads in London as it prepares to launch a commercial robotaxi service in the city this year.
The Alphabet-owned company has been working towards this moment for months. Waymo announced in October that it planned to start driving The public streets of London. Waymo employees first drove the vehicles manually to map the city before starting autonomous tests. Currently, a fleet of about 100 all-electric Jaguar I-Paces equipped with Waymo’s self-driving system have a human safety operator behind the wheel. Waymo is testing its vehicles in a 100-square-mile area of the city, according to the company.
The government must first finalize the regulations of the pilot program before we can operate fully autonomously. We will work closely with regulators to ensure our service reaches as many Londoners as possible.
“Basic AI generalizes very well,” wrote Waymo co-CEO Dmitry Dolgov. Post on LinkedIn announcing the test. “Autonomous testing is underway with experts behind the wheel as we master local nuances and validate performance on UK roads – a key step towards rider-only development.”
Waymo said inside another post on LinkedIn that it is investing in the country by hiring locally and establishing several AV service centers across London. The company also said it was working with emergency services “as we build the foundations to expand our operations in Europe”.
If Waymo follows its standard strategy, the company will eventually conduct self-driving tests and allow its own employees to test the service before inviting the public to greet its robotaxis. Waymo’s plans to launch this service in 2026 are dependent on its completion of the UK government’s approval process for these features.
Waymo already has ties to the U.K.: In 2019, the company acquired Latent Logic, a British startup out of Oxford University’s computer science department that uses a form of machine learning called imitation learning to make self-driving car simulations more realistic. Waymo launched an engineering hub in Oxford as part of the acquisition.
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Waymo has more than 3,000 robotaxis in its fleet, the company previously told TechCrunch. Documents filed in January with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration support those figures, though it’s possible the fleet has expanded with the addition of a new minivan-like vehicle made by Zeekr.
The robotaxis are spread across 11 cities where Waymo does business, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area, to name a few. Waymo is also testing and preparing to launch in several other markets.
London could be Waymo’s first international commercial market (it’s also trials in Tokyo). And Waymo will face competition in both of those cities. Autonomous vehicle technology startup Wayve and UK-based Uber are also planning to launch a driverless robotaxi service in London. Wayve, Uber and Nissan also signed an agreement in March for the launch pilot program in Tokyo until the end of 2026.
Updated: This article was updated at 2 p.m. PT to include the size of the London-based fleet and its area of operation.
