Wayve, a British artificial intelligence start-up, specializing in autonomous driving and a partner of the Uber platform, has been granted Private Hire Vehicle licenses by Transport for London (TfL). This is an important step toward launching autonomous rides on the Uber platform in the British capital.

The permits are for several Wayve’s autonomous, all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles, equipped with the Wayve AI Driver system, six surround cameras, and radar. The approval comes at a time when several global robotaxi companies are trying to gain a foothold in the city.

Still driver on board

Uber already held a TfL Private Hire Operator license, and Wayve’s safety drivers also held separate PVH drivers’ licenses; however, with the granting of those minicab licenses, the required ‘triple lock’ is now in place, allowing companies to offer private hire rides in London.

But there is an important caveat. While the licensing authority TfL confirms that the vehicles are licensed as PHVs, they are not licensed as ‘automated vehicles.’

The approval allows for supervised passenger trips with a licensed PHV driver on board, but does not permit fully driverless services. Every trip will still need to have a trained, TfL-licensed private hire vehicle driver on board to supervise the trip, who can aid where needed, and intervene if necessary.

While awaiting the issuance of the license – each PVH license is valid for one year – interested users could already sign up for Uber’s waitlist. More than 100,000 Londoners have signed up for the list over the past eight weeks. They will be offered rides as early as this summer, with a broader public launch to follow.

Uber and Wayve will need to obtain separate approvals from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to operate driverless cars.

AI approach

Wayve, founded in 2017, has been testing its self-driving technology on London streets since 2018 and says the system has demonstrated its adaptability in more than 500 cities worldwide.

Unlike some other self-driving systems that rely on HD maps or fixed geographic zones, Wayve’s approach uses AI that learns from experience to adapt to new environments – without a single LiDAR sensor or pre-built street map.

London will be the first city in the world to use its technology for commercial journeys. Wayve is also working with car manufacturers such as Nissan and Stellantis to deploy its systems in private vehicles.

Competitive market

The approval comes at a time when several robotaxi companies are trying to gain a foothold in London. The biggest rival for Wayve is Waymo. The Alphabet/Google company has a significant lead over its main competitors.

Since March, Waymo has been conducting tests with a fleet of approximately 100 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, equipped with Waymo’s self-driving system – a proprietary sensor suite consisting of 29 cameras, 6 radars, and 5 lidar units – with a human safety operator behind the wheel. The company is aiming for a fully driverless commercial launch in the fourth quarter of 2026, in partnership with fleet operator Moove.

What’s striking is that Uber and Waymo are already collaborating in the U.S. Waymo vehicles can be booked through the Uber app in Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. But in London, they will become direct competitors.

And it goes without saying that China is also joining the fray. In July, Baidu began testing autonomous vehicles in London as part of its partnership with Lyft and FreeNow – the German taxi and mobility app that Lyft acquired last year. The vehicles in question are Baidu’s specially designed Apollo Go RT6 robotaxis, which will eventually be available through FreeNow. Their first robotaxis are expected to be carrying passengers in London by 2027.

Bolt has also announced that it plans to offer autonomous vehicles in London, but specific details on this are still scarce.

Hotspot London

The reason London is such a hotspot for robotaxis – although Zagreb launched what it described as Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in April – is that the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 established the legal framework, creating a new category of “authorized self-driving entity” that bears legal liability when the vehicle takes control of the steering wheel.

The Department for Transport subsequently brought forward the licensing framework for Automated Passenger Services to spring 2026, enabling pilot projects involving fully driverless taxi and bus services.

TfL emphasizes that safety is the “top priority” and that every new vehicle licensed to carry passengers in London must contribute to the goal of eliminating all fatal accidents and serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041.

Operational permission remains an obstacle in the EU

In general, Europe has technical EU-type-approval rules for Level 4 vehicles, such as robotaxis and autonomous shuttles. The larger obstacle is operational permission. Taxi licensing, road rules, insurance, responsibility for offenses, remote supervision, police procedures, and accident investigation remain largely national or local matters.

But the Commission is now trying to break that fragmentation: 18 countries, including Belgium, signed an agreement in June to develop common permitting principles and large cross-border autonomous-vehicle testbeds.

The European Transport Safety Council has, however, warned that commercial announcements are advancing faster than Europe’s capacity to investigate autonomous-vehicle crashes and compare safety performance transparently.

And in Belgium?

As far as Belgium specifically is concerned, it is ahead in experimentation but behind in commercial legislation. The Flemish government’s autonomous-transport roadmap states explicitly that current Belgian legislation does not yet permit the commercial rollout of autonomous transport. Testing is possible through permits and a federal code of practice, but that is different from authorizing an Uber-style service for profit.

Belgium already has a significant public demonstration. In Leuven, for example, 2 autonomous WeRide shuttles have been carrying passengers between Leuven station and Heverlee since January. They operate autonomously on a fixed loop, and passengers use normal De Lijn tickets.

However, this remains a structured public-transport pilot on a predetermined route, not an on-demand robotaxi that can choose arbitrary destinations.

In July, the Sint-Truiden-based company Aidoptation received approval to conduct tests with fully autonomous vehicles on the highway. A month earlier, Flemish Minister of Mobility Annick De Ridder (N-VA) had already authorized autonomous Teslas on public roads.

This involves the FSD system, which allows the car to steer itself, stay within its lane, and change lanes. The driver must be able to intervene at any time and remain responsible.