Wayve and Uber Launch Autonomous Vehicle Trials in the UK

• Wayve and Uber will begin Level 4 self-driving vehicle trials on public roads in London, marking Uber’s largest AV pilot market to date.
• The trials follow the UK government’s fast-tracked approval framework and will use Wayve’s Embodied AI to navigate complex urban environments.

Wayve and Uber will begin public trials of fully autonomous vehicles in London, using Wayve’s Embodied AI platform on Uber’s mobility network. The project marks Uber’s most significant move yet into autonomous driving in the UK.

“We’re excited to take the next step in our journey with Wayve, bringing autonomous mobility to one of the world’s busiest and most complex urban environments," said Andrew Macdonald, President and Chief Operating Officer of Uber, in an official news release. "Wayve’s globally scalable AV2.0 approach makes them an ideal partner to bring Uber’s autonomous vision to reality in new cities around the world. Our vision is to make autonomy a safe and reliable option for riders everywhere, and this trial in London brings that future closer to reality.”

The collaboration follows the UK government’s announcement of an accelerated framework for commercial autonomous trials, introduced by the Secretary of State for Transport. Wayve and Uber will work with Transport for London on regulatory approvals ahead of a planned rollout in 2026.

Wayve’s Embodied AI trains by driving, not scripting, learning to adapt across different roads, vehicles, and environments without relying on maps or fixed instructions. In 2024, Wayve and Uber announced a multi-year agreement to integrate this technology into vehicles operating on the Uber platform. Testing in London, where road layouts and traffic laws differ sharply from U.S. cities, is expected to inform the development of autonomous systems for wider global deployment.

🌀 Tom’s Take:

Wayve’s approach stands out by teaching its AI to drive like we do, by learning from human behavior across real environments, not rules or maps. It's Global Roadshow, where a single model drove in 90 cities in 90 days, illustrates how this system generalizes rather than localizes. That’s a big step toward autonomy that works anywhere, not just in geofenced zones.

Source: Uber