ROBOTAXIS
WAYMO NOW HIRING AHEAD OF LAUNCH OF ROBOTAXIS ON BRITAIN’S ROADS NEXT YEAR
Waymo has launched a hiring spree in London for operational staff to manage a fleet of driverless cars and respond to incidents on the road, in preparation for the start of its first London trials in 2026. Autonomous taxi rides without a human driver behind the wheel are expected to begin in Britain next year and London would represent one of Waymo’s first markets outside America. The Government has said it will allow limited trials of the technology, in which passengers can book robotaxis from an app, from spring. London is expected to be a crucial market for driverless car companies.
Uber has said it will start testing
fully autonomous cars on London’s roads using technology from British start-up Wayve which has just started driverless trials with Nissan in Tokyo. Tesla – which this year launched a Robotaxi service in Texas – is also pushing for driverless technology to be allowed in the UK, having recently demonstrated its self-
driving system navigating London’s streets. Last month, Waymo posted London-based job adverts for a “fleet readiness lead” who is responsible for maintaining driverless cars and an “incident response manager” who handles how the company reacts to road accidents or breakdowns. The company already has software and AI staff in the UK, having bought the Oxford-based AI start- up Latent Logic in 2019, but the adverts are the first indication it is preparing to launch rides. A spokesman said the company was continuing to hire and invest in Britain and that it had always said it planned to expand globally.
TESLA ROBOTAXI AMBITIONS FACE LEGAL AND TECHNICAL ROADBLOCKS
Tesla’s push into autonomous mobility is facing significant setbacks, with its Robotaxi and Optimus robot projects raising concerns about the company’s competitive standing against rivals such as Waymo and Cruise. The company’s ambitious vision for a fully self-driving future is now confronting growing legal, tech- nical, and reputational risks. Tesla is mired in regulatory and legal challenges; shareholders have filed a class-action lawsuit against Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, alleging they: “overstated the safety and capabilities” of the company’s autonomous driving systems. This comes after a Florida wrongful-death case tied to
10
Autopilot resulted in a $240 million verdict against Tesla, which contributed to a 6.1% stock drop. In contrast to Tesla’s struggles, competitors are gaining ground with a more
cautious, safety-
focused approach. Waymo, which has logged 20 million real-world autonomous miles and over a billion in simulation, has secured key approvals and expanded its services in Phoenix and San Francisco. The company has also partnered with Uber to offer rides in Austin and Atlanta. Cruise, backed by General Motors, has accumulated 10 million driverless miles in San Francisco and is transitioning to a custom- built Origin vehicle designed
specifically for ride-hailing. Tesla’s
technical roadmap also
faces headwinds. The Optimus robot project, which aimed to produce 5,000 units this year, is now delayed into early 2026 with only hundreds built so far. Furthermore, Tesla’s reliance on a camera-only system has drawn scepticism from analysts, who contrast it with the more robust multi-sensor approach (using light detection and ranging, radar and cameras) used by Waymo & Cruise. While Tesla's fleet of millions of FSD-equipped vehicles provides a vast data advantage, the company has yet to prove it can translate this data into a reliable, fully autonomous system.
OCTOBER 2025 PHTM
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