Uber and Pony.ai plan London robotaxi tests
The companies have not identified the operator or owner of a proposed London fleet, as the capital hosts autonomous-vehicle trials
Uber and Pony.ai said they planned to begin road testing Pony.ai’s seventh-generation robotaxis in London in the coming weeks, a first step toward a London robotaxi service under their expanded European partnership.
The companies have not said who would own the vehicles or run the local fleet. Their broader agreement allows ownership and financing to vary by market, while local fleet partners may handle day-to-day operations. Pony.ai supplies Level 4 autonomous-driving technology and operational expertise; Uber provides bookings, payments and customer service through its mobility platform.
The move follows the Zagreb launch by Uber, Pony.ai and Verne in August, which we covered last month. In that market, Verne owns and operates the fleet, Pony.ai provides the autonomous-driving system, and Uber integrates rides into its app.
London would add to a plan to deploy more than 2,000 Pony.ai robotaxis across Europe. Uber said the partnership was expanding from Zagreb to four additional European cities, alongside planned Middle East deployments. Uber and Pony.ai first partnered in May 2025, initially with a focus on the Middle East.
The proposed testing arrives as London has become a focal point for autonomous-vehicle trials. The London Assembly said several autonomous passenger-vehicle trials were under way in the capital this year, with operators aiming for commercial launches by the end of 2026.
Uber is also pursuing a separate London partnership with the British autonomous-driving company Wayve. The two companies began supervised autonomous rides in the capital on Sept. 3 using electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es fitted with Wayve’s AI Driver and surround sensors. Those rides differ from fully driverless operations, which faced regulatory and technical hurdles in August: no vehicles had yet been approved by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and no applications for a DVSA permit had been received at that point, the Guardian reported.
Uber has said it works with more than 30 autonomous-vehicle partners and expects to facilitate autonomous trips in as many as 15 cities globally by year-end. Pony.ai already operates paid, fully driverless robotaxi services in four of China’s tier-one cities.