London is one step closer to its first robotaxi service as Waymo begins testing

Waymo has begun testing its self-driving 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 toward this moment for months. Waymo Announce In October I planned to start driving Public roads in London. Waymo employees initially drove the vehicles manually to map the city before beginning self-driving testing. Currently, Waymo’s all-electric Jaguar I-Pace with autonomous driving has a human safety behind the wheel.

“Basic AI generalizes very well,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitry Dolgov wrote in an article. Share LinkedIn Test announcement. “Self-testing with specialists behind the wheel is now underway as we master local nuances and validate performance on UK roads – a key step towards a passenger-only rollout.”

Waymo said in Another post LinkedIn says it is investing in the country by hiring locally and setting up multiple AV service centers across London. The company also said it is working with emergency services “as we build the foundation to expand our business in Europe.”

If Waymo follows its typical strategy, the company will eventually conduct a driverless test and let its employees try out the service before inviting the public to praise its robotaxis. Waymo’s plans to launch this service in 2026 are contingent on the UK government completing the approval process for those operations.

Waymo already has ties with the UK: in 2019, the company Acquired latent logica UK startup that spun out of the University of Oxford’s computer science department and uses a form of machine learning called imitation learning to make self-driving car simulations more realistic. Waymo has launched an engineering center in Oxford as part of the acquisition.

Waymo has more than 3,000 robotaxis in its fleet, the company previously told TechCrunch. Documents filed in January with the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration support those numbers, although it’s possible the fleet has expanded with the addition of a new minivan-like vehicle made by Zeekr.

Robotaxis are in 11 cities where they operate commercially, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area, to name a few. Waymo is also testing and preparing for launch in several other markets.

London could be Waymo’s first international trading market (and it is Testing in Tokyo). Waymo will face competition in both cities. A UK-based autonomous vehicle technology startup WiFi and Uber It also plans to launch a fully automated, driverless taxi service in London. Wayve, Uber and Nissan also signed an agreement in March to launch the service Demo program In Tokyo by late 2026.