Uber has rolled out 15 autonomous Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles in London, powered by artificial intelligence from partner Wayve, but a human supervisor must still be on board due to regulatory restrictions. The vehicle can travel anywhere within London except to the airport. Kendall, a representative of Wayve, notes that the AI is trained on millions of hours of driving experience worldwide, allowing it to adapt to new situations. A test by CBS News found that the vehicle got stuck in a narrow passageway and required human intervention.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Uber, in partnership with British technology company Wayve, has launched 15 autonomous Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles on the roads of London, powered by artificial intelligence. However, a supervisor must still be present in each vehicle due to regulatory restrictions that only allow partial autonomy on London's roads. The robotaxis can travel anywhere within the city, but cannot yet make trips to the airport. Wayve's chief executive, Kendall, noted the challenges of developing autonomous vehicles in a busy and complex city like London, with its narrow streets, numerous roundabouts, and high density of cyclists and pedestrians. This project is part of a larger partnership between Wayve, Uber, and investors such as Nvidia and Microsoft. Waymo, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, has also been mapping London's roads, but has not yet launched its own autonomous vehicles in the city. The launch of Uber's robotaxis in London marks one of the biggest challenges for the company so far in terms of implementing autonomous vehicle technology.
Written for “Uber Robotaxi Trials UK” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
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No political leaning scored for article 5384 · logged 2026-09-06
Robotaxis are on the roads of London, marking Uber's biggest real-world challenge yet in a busy city built on a dense layout and countless roundabouts.
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Robotaxis → mark → layout
This week, Uber rolled out 15 autonomous Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles in London powered by artificial intelligence.
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Uber → roll → intelligence
As of now, a supervisor must be on board the vehicle because London regulators still do not allow full autonomy on the roads yet.
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regulators → allow → roads
And while the robotaxis can travel anywhere within London, they cannot yet make trips to the airport.
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they → travel → airport
Kendall noted some of the challenges that Wayve and Uber faced in the development process in a city with some roads that are hundreds of years old.
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that → note → roads
"There's many roundabouts, interaction scenarios, there's more than 10 times more cyclists and pedestrians than you can see in cities like San Francisco," Kendall said.
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Kendall → be → Francisco
"More than 10 times the amount of roadwork, so it's just a constantly busy and evolving city."
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it → evolve → roadwork
Wayve's investor base, along with Uber, also includes Nvidia and Microsoft.
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base → include → Nvidia
Its chief competitor, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, has been mapping London with its vehicles, but has not yet rolled them out for public use.
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competitor → map → use
In
earlier this year, Kendall explained that Wayve's AI differs from that of Waymo in that it does not map out a city before driving it.
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it → explain → it
"We train it on millions of hours of experience driving all around the world," Kendall said at the time.
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Kendall → train → time
"So this means when it goes somewhere it's never seen before or that's never been mapped, it can understand what's in front of it and make decisions in real time.
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what → mean → time
Wayve has driven its vehicles in more than 500 cities in Europe, Asia and North America, according to Kendall.
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Wayve → drive → Kendall
"That level of diversity, you need to have a system that can learn concepts, and apply them to things it hasn't seen before, and that's exactly what we've built with our AI," Kendall said.
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Kendall → need → AI
For 20% more than the standard Uber fare, a CBS News crew called an Uber robotaxi and put the AI to the test.
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crew → call → test
The vehicle operated autonomously at first, but when it tried to go through a narrow passageway, it eventually got stuck and the supervisor had to take over and drive.
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supervisor → operate → passageway
For those who don't want an amateur jockey, there are London's famous black cab drivers who have required knowledge of the city.
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who → want → city
But their numbers have dropped in recent years, from about 25,000 in 2010, down to approximately 16,000 today, according to Transport for London statistics.
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numbers → drop → statistics
When asked if robotaxis pose a risk to black cab drivers, Sarfraz Maredia, Uber's global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, said that in the short term, he doesn't believe so.
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he → ask → term
"No, we don't really see that as a near-term risk," Maredia told CBS News.
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Maredia → see → News
"So, the reality is the market is growing.
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market → grow → ?
And we think AVs are going to help take up some of the growth in the market."
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AVs → think → market
