Waymo has begun testing its self driving vehicles on public roads in London as it moves closer to launching a commercial robotaxi service in the city later this year. The Alphabet owned company said the development follows months of preparation, including manual driving by employees to map key routes before shifting to autonomous testing across selected areas of the UK capital.
The company disclosed that a fleet of about 100 all electric Jaguar I Pace vehicles equipped with its self driving system is currently being tested across a 100 square mile operational zone in London. Each vehicle is staffed with a human safety operator behind the wheel as the system learns local driving conditions. Waymo noted that full driverless operations will depend on the completion of regulatory approvals by UK authorities, which will determine when commercial deployment can begin.
In a statement shared on LinkedIn, Waymo co chief executive officer Dmitri Dolgov said the company’s driving AI is adapting well to local conditions, describing the testing phase as a critical step toward fully autonomous operations. He added that specialists are currently overseeing performance as the system is fine tuned for UK roads, with the long term goal of enabling rider only service once safety benchmarks are met.
Waymo also confirmed it is expanding its footprint in the United Kingdom by hiring locally, setting up service centres in London and collaborating with emergency response agencies. The company, which already operates more than 3,000 robotaxis across multiple US cities, is positioning London as a potential first international commercial market, alongside ongoing testing in Tokyo. However, it will face competition from firms such as Wayve and Uber, both of which are also developing autonomous mobility services in the UK capital.