Londoners can now be matched with Wayve robotaxis when booking through Uber, although a licensed human driver will remain behind the wheel for now.

Self-driving taxis have become available to paying passengers in London for the first time, following the launch of supervised autonomous rides from Uber and British technology company Wayve.

From September 3, people requesting an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort may be matched with a Wayve autonomous vehicle at no additional cost. More than 140,000 Uber customers in London have already opted in to increase their chances of getting one.

The initial fleet is small, with 15 all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles fitted with the Wayve AI Driver and surrounding sensors.

The cars are not yet fully driverless. Each journey has a trained, Transport for London-licensed private hire driver in the front seat who can take control when required. Separate regulatory approval will be needed before services can operate without a safety driver.

Passengers can accept the Wayve vehicle or switch to a conventional Uber before it arrives. They can then unlock the car and start their journey through the Uber app. An interactive screen inside, available in 64 languages, shows the route the vehicle plans to take. The service covers London but excludes airports.

Alex Kendall, CEO and co-founder of Wayve, says: “We’re proud to introduce the Wayve AI Driver to the public for the first time right here in London, our home city and one of the most complex driving environments in the world. Autonomous driving technology will complement the city’s rich transport network, and we’re excited for Londoners to experience it first as we begin our global rollout with Uber.”

Wayve was founded in London and has been training its autonomous driving technology on the capital's roads since 2018. Its system uses an AI model that learns from driving experience rather than relying on the detailed digital maps used by some competitors.

The London launch forms part of a wider partnership between Wayve and Uber intended to bring Wayve-powered vehicles to the Uber network across 12 international markets.

Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous mobility at Uber, says: “We’re delighted to bring autonomous rides to Uber riders in London for the very first time, powered by Wayve, a homegrown British success story. London is a world-class hub for transportation innovation and this launch is a major milestone in scaling safe, accessible AV technology in a city with some of the world’s most complex roads.”

Fully driverless taxi services already operate in cities in the US, China and the United Arab Emirates. Waymo and Chinese company Baidu are also testing autonomous vehicles in London as technology companies compete to bring robotaxis to the UK market.

Wayve and Uber plan to expand the London fleet gradually as the technology develops and regulations allow. At the same time, Google's Waymo self-driving taxis are also preparing to start taking passengers – they have already been spotted on the capital's roads.

Globetrender editor and founder Jenny Southan tried out a driverless Waymo in San Francisco recently and was full of praise for the experience: "After about ten minutes I felt I trusted it more than a human driver. I realised that every time I get in a taxi with a man, I subconsciously assess the likelihood of him murdering or kidnapping me, or at the very least, driving me a longer route to increase the fare. I always keep my eyes on the road and hate it when drivers drive erratically, angrily or too fast – which happens a lot in cities. Waymo was cool, calm and collected every time I rode in one. I look forward to using them on a regular basis in my home city of London."