Wayve AI Driver Carries First Public Uber Riders In London

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) and Wayve today launched supervised autonomous rides in London, marking the first time autonomous trips are available in the United Kingdom. Starting today, Londoners requesting an UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort may be matched with a Wayve ride at no extra cost, with upfront fares shown in-app.

Riders matched with a Wayve ride will travel in an all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle equipped with the Wayve AI Driver, as well as surround sensors. The in-vehicle experience, designed by Uber, features an interactive screen available in 64 languages where riders can start their trip and view the vehicle’s planned path.

How Riders Are Matched With The Wayve AI Driver

• Accept your Wayve ride: On every trip, riders will have the option to accept or switch to a non-AV ride before the car arrives.
• Familiar app, new experience: Once the Wayve vehicle arrives, riders can unlock the doors, and start the trip – all from their Uber app.
• Operating area: At launch, riders will be able to travel anywhere within London, apart from airports.
• Safety is a top priority: Any AV on the Uber network must meet all of the company’s Safety Guidelines. The initial launch phase features supervised autonomous rides, meaning a trained and TfL licensed private hire driver is onboard to oversee the trip.
• Gradual growth: We’re starting with a small number of vehicles in this initial phase and will grow thoughtfully over time in-line with rider demand, readiness, and regulation.
• Update your Ride Preferences: Uber customers in London who are excited about riding in a Wayve vehicle can boost their chances of getting matched by opting in via the Trip Preferences section of their Uber app under Settings. Over 140,000 Londoners have already opted-in.

We’re proud to introduce the Wayve AI Driver to the public for the first time right here in London, our home city and one of the most complex driving environments in the world. Autonomous driving technology will complement the city’s rich transport network, and we’re excited for Londoners to experience it first as we begin our global rollout with Uber.

Alex Kendall, CEO and Co-founder of Wayve

We’re delighted to bring autonomous rides to Uber riders in London for the very first time, powered by Wayve, a homegrown British success story. London is a world-class hub for transportation innovation and this launch is a major milestone in scaling safe, accessible AV technology in a city with some of the world’s most complex roads.

Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility at Uber

This is a major milestone for the future of transport in London, as British innovation brings this technology onto our roads and gives passengers more choice. As this technology develops, we want to support new opportunities for investment and skills, while recognising the important role that those working in the sector today will continue to play. Today’s announcement further cements Wayve’s status as a technology trailblazer here in the UK, and highlights how British innovation is helping drive investment and growth in transport.

Heidi Alexander, Transport Secretary

From today, people will be able to step into the technology of the future as autonomous vehicles are rolled out on the streets of London, and that is a hugely exciting milestone for the UK. These autonomous vehicles use homegrown, British AI from Wayve, once again showing that we have the ability to be a genuine world leader in the AI transformation.

Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary

Trained On London Roads Without HD Maps

Headquartered and founded in London, Wayve has built and specifically trained their AI technology on the capital’s challenging roads since 2018. Wayve’s “AV2.0” approach utilizes an AI Driver that learns from experience, much like a human, allowing it to scale and adapt to complex environments without relying on traditional HD maps or hand-coded rules.

This launch is part of Uber and Wayve’s partnership, which included an investment to put Wayve-powered vehicles on the Uber network in 12 markets around the world, beginning with London. Wayve’s autonomous driving technology is agnostic to vehicle platforms and sensor configurations, enabling it to scale quickly. As part of the future service in London and other global markets, Wayve and Uber will also introduce riders to the Nissan LEAF vehicle, powered by the Wayve AI Driver using NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion, starting in Tokyo later this year.

Wayve AI Driver: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Wayve AI Driver?

The Wayve AI Driver is an artificial intelligence driving system that learns from experience rather than relying on traditional HD maps or hand-coded rules. Wayve calls the approach AV2.0, and states the same system is designed to run across different vehicle platforms and sensor configurations.

Are the Wayve rides in London driverless?

No. The initial launch phase is supervised. A trained private hire driver licensed by Transport for London is on board to oversee every trip.

Which vehicles are used for Wayve rides on Uber in London?

All-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles fitted with the Wayve AI Driver and surround sensors. Wayve and Uber also plan to introduce a Nissan LEAF powered by the Wayve AI Driver using NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion, starting in Tokyo later this year.

Where in London can a Wayve ride operate?

At launch, riders can travel anywhere within London apart from airports. Wayve and Uber say the fleet will grow in line with rider demand, readiness and regulation.

How does the Wayve AI Driver differ from HD map based autonomy?

A conventional autonomous stack localises against a centimetre-accurate HD map and follows explicit driving rules, so each new city needs surveying and rule tuning before deployment. Wayve’s approach learns from driving experience instead, which the company states allows it to adapt to new environments without that mapping step.

For more autonomous vehicle news, click here.

Source