Waymo plans to launch a robotaxi service in London in 2026 | TechCrunch

Waymo said on Wednesday it will offer a commercial robotaxi service in London in 2026, marking the Alphabet-owned company’s second international expansion following Tokyo.

The announcement follows weeks of speculation fueled by a couple of London-based job postings. Waymo already has ties to the U.K: In 2019, the company acquired Latent Logic, a U.K. startup spun out of Oxford University’s computer science department that uses a form of machine learning called imitation learning to make self-driving car simulation more realistic. Waymo launched an engineering hub in Oxford as part of the acquisition.

In a blog post, Waymo said its all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles — equipped with self-driving technology — will begin driving on London’s public roads in the coming weeks. Waymo will start with human safety drivers behind the wheel before it launches driverless testing and eventually invites the public to hail its robotaxis, a strategy that it has used in other commercial markets such as Phoenix and San Francisco.

Waymo wouldn’t provide further details on when it would remove the human safety driver, or the size of the testing fleet. Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher did confirm the company intends to operate a self-driving car service for public riders next year.

When that robotaxi service launches in 2026 will depend on the U.K. government finalizing its approval process for those operations.

Waymo has increasingly tapped partners to share the load of operating a robotaxi service, and similarly plans to use Moove, which already manages its autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Phoenix, to handle fleet operations in London.

In Austin and Atlanta, its partner Uber splits the responsibilities of owning and operating a fleet of driverless vehicles, handling the charging, maintenance, and cleaning of the AVs, and managing access to the robotaxis via its app. Meanwhile, Waymo monitors the tech and the autonomous operations, including roadside assistance and certain aspects of rider support.

Waymo has ramped up its testing and commercial operations over the past two years, spreading beyond its initial market of Phoenix to several other U.S. cities, including Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The company also has plans to offer a commercial robotaxi service in Miami, Nashville, and Washington, DC.