Waymo is planning to launch its driverless ride-hailing service in London next year, marking its second international expansion and its first in Europe.
The Alphabet Inc. unit will begin testing a small fleet of its vehicles with safety drivers across a 100-square-mile area of London in the coming months, a spokesperson said. The company will work with Uber Technologies Inc.-backed Moove to manage and maintain the fleet, and add more vehicles based on guidelines issued by U.K. regulators, it added in a statement Wednesday.
The U.K. government is planning to allow commercial self-driving pilots beginning in 2026, after which Waymo intends to provide its service to consumers through its own app, rather than Uber or Lyft Inc. as it does in some U.S. cities.
The announcement marks Waymo’s second international destination after Tokyo, where it’s been testing on public roads since April in collaboration with Japanese taxi platform GO and Tokyo taxi company Nihon Kotsu. No commercial launch there has been announced.
Waymo’s decision to eventually offer commercial service through its own app in London sets it up to compete with Uber and other ride-hailing apps in one of the largest ride-hailing markets in the world. Uber is eyeing the same 2026 regulatory approval timeline with partner Wayve Technologies Ltd. for autonomous-vehicle trials in London.
In contrast, Waymo has teamed up with ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft in some U.S. cities, rather than competing with them, to ensure its vehicles are kept busy. It currently completes hundreds of thousands of rides a week in five U.S. markets, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, with further expansions planned for next year.
Waymo already has a relationship with fleet operator Moove: The two have partnered on offering robotaxi service in Phoenix, and are working on a launch in Miami slated for 2026.
Lung writes for Bloomberg.