Uber and Pony.ai Robotaxis Head for London Tests. Here’s What’s Approved

London is about to get its second robotaxi company on Uber, and its first from China. Pony.ai said on Oct. 8 that it will begin testing its seventh-generation robotaxis in the capital “in the coming weeks”, ahead of a service on Uber, TechCrunch reported.

What the companies did not say is almost as long as what they did. There is no fleet size, no launch date for paid rides and no named operator. Pony.ai’s post on X said it looked forward to “working with local officials, and our partners, as plans progress to begin trials”, according to TNW. That is the language of a plan, not a permit.

Uber and Pony.ai’s London robotaxi plan: what was announced

The two companies first partnered in May 2025, initially for the Middle East. On Aug. 14, 2026, Pony.ai announced an expanded deal to deploy “more than 2,000 Robotaxis across Europe” in five cities, starting with Zagreb. That release did not name London. It did spell out the model: Pony.ai supplies the driving system, Uber supplies booking and payments, and “vehicle funding and ownership can sit with different partners depending on the market.”

In Zagreb, that partner is Verne, the start-up founded by Rimac Group’s Mate Rimac, which owns and runs a fleet of Arcfox Alpha T5 cars that Pony.ai developed with Chinese carmaker BAIC, per TechCrunch. Zagreb’s first rides launched with a safety driver, TNW reported. London will probably follow the same pattern, TechCrunch said, but nobody has named the fleet owner here.

Uber is spreading its bets. It has deals with more than 30 autonomous-vehicle companies and expects self-driving trips in as many as 15 cities by the end of 2026, according to TechCrunch.

What’s actually approved for London robotaxis

Britain does now have a legal route to driverless taxis. Part 5 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 and the Automated Vehicles (Permits for Automated Passenger Services) Regulations 2026 came into force on 15 May 2026. Permits are issued in the Secretary of State’s name and need the consent of the local licensing authority for taxi- and private-hire-style services, which in London means Transport for London (TfL).

Under the self-driving pilot scheme guidance that the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and the Department for Transport published on 31 March, operators can run commercial rides with no safety driver, law firm Jones Day explains. Pilot permits are expected to last 12 to 18 months, and full implementation of the Act is not expected until late 2027. Ordinary trials still fall under the existing code of practice for automated vehicle trialling, which requires a safety driver at all times.

As of 4 September, no operator had completed even the first stage of that permit process in London, TNW reported. Our read: Pony.ai’s “testing” is almost certainly supervised driving under the trialling code, with a human at the wheel. Nothing announced on Oct. 8 suggests a permit application, let alone a permit.

Wayve got to London first, with a driver in the seat

Uber already runs autonomous rides in London with Wayve, the British start-up. Paid trips began on 3 September, TNW reported, after TfL approved up to 15 vehicles for a one-year trial. TfL licensed them as private hire vehicles, not automated ones, so a licensed driver stays in the driver’s seat and is legally responsible for every journey. Wayve says more than 140,000 Londoners have opted in through Uber’s trip preferences, according to TNW.

Removing that driver needs the permit neither company has. “That process is still playing out,” Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of autonomous mobility, told TNW.

Uber’s money is riding on Wayve in London specifically. Wayve raised US$1.2bn (about £895m) in February, and up to US$300m (about £225m) more from Uber depends on Wayve deploying robotaxis, starting in London, TechCrunch reported. Pony.ai is a second supplier for the same market, a hedge rather than a replacement.

What it means for London riders

For now, very little changes. You cannot book a Pony.ai car, and Uber has not said whether its test vehicles will carry the public at all. If you are matched with a Wayve car on UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort, the fare is the standard one and you can decline the trip, TNW reported. Britain’s regulators are also letting AI act without a human in other places, such as an NHS skin-cancer triage tool, and the robotaxi version will rest on the same lidar and depth-camera hardware that has to read a London kerb correctly.

The number to watch is a small one. Wayve has 15 approved cars, each with a driver who is legally in charge. Pony.ai has not said how many it will bring.