Just a day after ending its 12-year ride-hailing operations in Nigeria, Uber has launched supervised autonomous rides in London in partnership with British artificial intelligence company Wayve.
The London rollout, which began on Thursday, September 3, marks the first time autonomous rides have been made available to the public in the United Kingdom and represents a major step in Uber’s growing push into self-driving transportation.
Under the new arrangement, passengers requesting UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort in London may be matched with a Wayve-powered vehicle at no additional cost. Customers will be able to accept the autonomous vehicle or switch to a conventional ride before the vehicle arrives.
The initial service uses 15 all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles fitted with Wayve’s AI Driver technology and additional sensors. The vehicles are designed to navigate London’s roads using artificial intelligence that learns from driving experience and adapts to different road environments.
Despite being described as robotaxis, the vehicles are not yet fully driverless. A licensed human safety operator remains behind the wheel to supervise each journey and can take control of the vehicle or apply the brakes if necessary.
Full driverless operations still require further regulatory approval in the United Kingdom. Transport authorities are continuing the process that would allow autonomous vehicles to operate commercially without a human safety driver.
Uber's Global Head of Autonomous Mobility, Sarfraz Maredia, said the London launch would help build confidence among passengers and government authorities as the company expands its autonomous mobility ambitions.
Wayve Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Alex Kendall also described London as an important environment for testing the company's technology because of the city's complex roads, traffic, cyclists and pedestrians.
The development comes barely 24 hours after Uber announced that it was ending its operations in Nigeria, effective September 2, following a review of its business. The company had operated in Nigeria since launching in Lagos in 2014 before expanding to other Nigerian cities.
Uber said the Nigerian withdrawal was limited to Nigeria and Uganda and would not affect its other operations in Africa. The company said it remains committed to sub-Saharan Africa while focusing investment on markets where it believes it can create earning opportunities for drivers at scale and provide reliable mobility services for riders.
The timing of the two developments has nevertheless drawn attention, as Uber is withdrawing from two African markets while simultaneously investing heavily in autonomous transportation in major international cities.
London is now the second European city where Uber offers autonomous rides, following its earlier robotaxi launch in Zagreb, Croatia. The company is also working with other autonomous vehicle partners as it seeks to expand self-driving services across multiple cities.
For London passengers, the immediate experience remains a hybrid one: the vehicle can drive itself using Wayve's technology, but a human operator is still present for safety. Uber and Wayve have not given a firm date for when completely driverless rides will begin.
The London launch therefore represents an early commercial stage in Uber's autonomous vehicle strategy rather than the arrival of completely driverless taxis in the British capital.
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