Waymo has started testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads in London, with a goal of launching a commercial robotaxi service in the city this year. The Alphabet-owned company began manually mapping the city before starting autonomous testing, which is currently being conducted by a fleet of 100 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles with a human safety operator behind the wheel.
Waymo's co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov announced on LinkedIn that "core driving AI generalizing very well" and that autonomous testing is underway. The company is working closely with regulators to ensure its service can operate fully autonomously, once government regulations are finalized. Waymo has also invested in the UK by hiring locally and establishing multiple AV service centers across London.
Waymo's plans to launch a commercial robotaxi service in 2026 depend on the U.K. government finalizing its approval process for those operations. The company already operates commercially in several US cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area, with over 3,000 robotaxis in its fleet.
Waymo's entry into London marks a significant expansion of the company's international presence, but it will face competition from other companies, including UK-based Wayve and Uber, which plan to launch fully driverless robotaxi services in the city.
