Uber revealed on Tuesday that it has teamed up with Wayve, a company that develops autonomous vehicle technology, to begin testing completely autonomous rides in the United Kingdom.
As the industry refers to this level of autonomous driving as “Level 4,” the ride-hailing service stated that the trial would be the first of its type for the firm and would enable consumers to take Uber rides without a safety driver present.
In San Francisco, autonomous cars have become a familiar sight. Waymo, Google’s autonomous driving business, uses its driverless cars to provide a commercial ride-hailing service. But other companies around the world are vying to launch their own “robotaxi” services.
Wayve’s relationship with Uber will help the firm achieve its goal of “making autonomy a safe and reliable option for riders everywhere,” according to Andrew MacDonald, president and chief operating officer of the company.
According to a statement by Wayve CEO and co-founder Alex Kendall, “this is a defining moment for UK autonomy.” We are getting ready to deploy our AI Driver technology on London’s streets in collaboration with Uber and a worldwide OEM partner.
Uber claimed that the “accelerated framework” for self-driving commercial pilots being implemented by the UK Department of Transport allowed it to start the trial in the country.
Uber and Wayve stated that before beginning the trials, they would carefully collaborate with the government and Transport for London, the primary body in charge of transport in the capital of the United Kingdom, on regulatory licenses and clearances.
Wayve is a London-based firm with SoftBank backing that creates software to make self-driving cars possible. Its technology, which is intended to work in any setting, leverages artificial intelligence to enable cars to evaluate their surroundings.
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Self-driving cars were expected to be on British roads by 2026 after the U.K. voted its Autonomous Vehicles Act into law last year, according to the government at the time.
