Summary
Waymo, a company that makes driverless cars, plans to launch a taxi service in London by September. The UK government will change regulations by the end of 2026 to allow these driverless taxis. The service will eventually operate without a human driver once all safety conditions are met.
Key Facts
- Waymo aims to start a robotaxi service in London as soon as September.
- The UK government plans to update regulations for driverless taxis by the second half of 2026.
- Waymo is owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
- As a trial, Waymo is currently using safety drivers to map London streets.
- The estimated economic impact of the autonomous vehicle industry could be £42 billion by 2035, creating nearly 40,000 jobs.
- The robotaxis use advanced sensors and computers to navigate and will operate without a human driver eventually.
- Waymo has partnered with Jaguar for its UK robotaxi service.
- Uber and Lyft plan to introduce their own robotaxi services in the UK after the regulations change.
