Waymo plans to launch a robotaxi service in London in 2026

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 manages 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.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
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.
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
Latest TechCrunch
- VSCO gets AI editing chops, support for RAW filesVideo editing app VSCO is adding a set of new AI image editing tools, support for high-resolution RAW files, non-destructive edits, and content-aware region detection.
- OpenAI has five years to turn $13 billion into $1 trillionSome of America's most valuable companies are now leaning on OpenAI to fulfill major contracts, notes the FT.
- Coinbase boosts investment in India’s CoinDCX, valuing exchange at $2.45BCoinbase's latest investment lifts CoinDCX's valuation from $2.15 billion to $2.45 billion.
- EVs take a backseat in Stellantis’ $13B US investment planFive new vehicles and a four-cylinder engine will be developed and produced through 2029 as part of investment into factories in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
- Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon allow erotica for adult usersOpenAI says it will soon roll back some of ChatGPT's safeguards, and even allow the chatbot to engage in erotica for adult users.
- At Starbase, SpaceX is taking firefighting into its own handsSpaceX's company town has formed a volunteer fire department, extending control over both the emergency response and permitting process as the company looks to expand Starbase.