Uber, Wayve and Waymo are headed for a showdown with the robotics in London

Uber customers in the UK can now join a wishlist to increase their chances of being matched with a Wayve autonomous vehicle – another sign that the two companies are preparing to launch a robo-cab service in London. When that launch happens, Uber will compete directly with Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car company, which is considered the leader in robotics in the United States.

Uber announced the interest list Monday in London along with a branded black Ford Mustang Mach-E equipped with Wayve’s self-driving system. While Wayve handles the autonomous vehicle technology, Uber has designed what goes on inside, including how drivers will interact with the vehicle through interactive touchscreens that support 64 languages.

Uber has been teasing the upcoming robotaxi service, but has yet to give an official date, saying only that it will launch in the coming months, pending regulatory approval. After launch, Uber customers who request a ride in the app can receive a Wayve vehicle at no additional cost compared to a traditional human-driven vehicle.

Passengers can increase their chances of receiving robotics by going into their account settings, clicking on driver preferences and selecting autonomous vehicles. If paired with an AV, riders will be able to turn it down and opt for a human driver. The Wayve robotaxi will initially have a safety operator behind the wheel before fully driverless operations in the future, Uber said.

Meanwhile, Waymo is also on the streets of London. In April, Waymo began testing its autonomous vehicles with human safety operators. The company is testing about 100 of its autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in a 100-square-mile area of ​​the city.

The impending clash is compounded by Uber and Waymo’s existing partnership in the United States — one that is already showing signs of wear and tear. The two companies, once rivals in a trade secret lawsuit, agreed to work together in 2023 when Waymo put its self-driving vehicles on Uber’s app in Phoenix. However, this partnership is relatively limited, as Waymo allows Phoenix customers to directly call robots through its own app.

The two expanded their partnership in March 2025 when Waymo agreed to put its vehicles on the Uber app in Austin and later in Atlanta. In both cities, would-be customers can’t hail roboxis directly through Waymo’s app and must use the Uber app and hope for a match.

The relationship between the two companies continues even as they appear to be drifting apart in other areas. Uber has spent the past two years investing in and partnering with dozens of autonomous vehicle companies, including Wayve.

Uber executives have also taken a direct swipe at Waymo, an unorthodox way of treating a business partner. For example, Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli posted a video and commentary on X calling out the dangerous behavior of the Waymo robotics, calling it « scary. »

The ride-hailing giant has launched two new business units — a data play called AV Labs and an operations-focused unit called Uber Autonomous Solutions — that illustrate the company’s broader ambitions to gain market share in the nascent autonomous vehicle industry.

Uber has made many bets on autonomous vehicle companies that could compete with Waymo, most notably Wayve. In February, the UK startup raised $1.2 billion from a number of strategic backers, including Uber as a return investor. The total increase could reach $1.5 billion thanks to another $300 million from Uber related to the deployment of robotics, starting in London.

There is one regulatory hurdle that will delay the robotics encounter, at least for a while. The UK government is in the process of creating regulations for autonomous vehicles and it doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon. The government’s transport department opened applications in May for companies interested in its AV pilot program. The department said it will take what it learned from the pilot program and apply it to the development of its regulations.