Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has welcomed the launch of Britain’s first autonomous ride-hailing service, saying the technology demonstrates how far UK innovation and artificial intelligence have advanced.
Reynolds took his first ride in a Wayve-powered autonomous Uber after the British technology company and Uber launched supervised autonomous journeys for members of the public in London this week.
Writing on X, Reynolds said:
“I took my first ride in an autonomous Uber as Wayve launched its new service in London.”
He added:
“Experiencing the technology first-hand was genuinely exciting. Seeing it navigate the complexity of central London so smoothly showed just how far UK innovation has come.”
The new service uses all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with Wayve’s AI Driver technology. Passengers requesting an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort journey can be matched with one of the vehicles at no additional cost.
The initial rollout remains supervised, with a trained, TfL-licensed private hire driver on board during each journey. Transport for London approved a trial of up to 15 vehicles, while stressing that the current service is not yet fully driverless.
Wayve was founded and is headquartered in London and has been developing and testing its AI-based driving technology on the capital’s roads since 2018. The company says its system learns from experience rather than relying solely on highly detailed maps and pre-programmed rules.
Reynolds said the launch showed the economic opportunities that can come from backing home-grown technology.
Speaking as the service launched, he said autonomous vehicles using “homegrown, British AI from Wayve” demonstrated that the UK had the potential to become “a genuine world leader in the AI transformation”.
More than 140,000 Londoners had already opted in through Uber to increase their chances of being matched with an autonomous vehicle by the time the service launched.
The development also highlights the wider debate around automation, with trade unions and transport representatives calling for its expansion to be managed carefully to protect jobs, passenger safety and public confidence. GMB has already warned that any robotaxi rollout in London must come with a plan to protect professional drivers.
For Labour, however, the Wayve launch is also an example of the Government’s ambition to turn British research and AI expertise into commercial growth, investment and skilled employment.
Reynolds’ message is that Britain should not simply consume the technologies of the future but play a leading role in developing them.
With a UK-founded company now putting autonomous vehicles onto London streets, ministers are presenting Wayve as evidence that British innovation can compete at the forefront of the global AI and transport industries.
