Nissan, Wayve, Uber to develop robotaxi

MANILA: Nissan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Wayve and Uber for the development of robotaxis and commence activities to realize its deployment of services.

The preparation for a pilot deployment will begin in Tokyo come late 2026. The model that will be used for the project is a Nissan LEAF powered by the Wayve AI (artificial intelligence) Driver, available to riders through Uber.

This will be Uber’s first autonomous vehicle partnership in Japan and the next milestone in Wayve and Uber’s global robotaxi rollout, which includes planned services across more than 10 cities worldwide.

The goal for the aforementioned program is to merge Wayve’s end-to-end AI autonomous driving system into the Nissan vehicle, which can accommodate the Wayve AI Driver and connect to Uber’s ride hailing platform.

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For the initial phase of the program, vehicles will operate on the Uber network with a trained safety operator inside the car, allowing riders to experience a robotaxi service as part of their everyday journeys.

Such a development came after Nissan and Wayve signed agreements for the integration of the next-generation ProPILOT series with the latter’s AI technology across a broad range of the former’s lineup.

“Nissan is proud to collaborate in this next chapter of mobility innovation. Our work with Wayve to integrate advanced AI technology across our consumer vehicle portfolio has laid strong foundations, and we are excited to take this partnership further with a pilot deployment of Robotaxi in Tokyo, bringing together Wayve’s AI technology, Uber’s network, and Nissan vehicles,” Nissan Motor Company President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ivan Espinosa said.

“Nissan’s vision is to bring mobility intelligence to everyday life, and we believe this initiative reflects how we translate that ambition into real‑world applications,” he added.

Meanwhile, Wayve Co-founder and CEO Wayve Alex Kendall shared that the technology has been tested throughout Japan since last year to learn about the country’s unique road environments.  

“Partnering with Uber and Nissan to begin pilot deployment of Robotaxi allows us to introduce this technology in a responsible way, while continuing to learn and expand,” he noted.

Further, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also expressed excitement over the team-up with the two brands.

“Autonomous mobility is becoming an increasingly important part of the Uber platform. We are excited to expand our collaboration with Wayve and to work with Nissan to bring robotaxi services to Tokyo. Following our planned pilot deployment in London, we look forward to expanding into Tokyo and introducing new, modern ways to travel in some of the world’s largest cities. It also reflects our long-term commitment to Japan, a critical market where innovation can help address driver shortages and support the future of urban transportation. Our goal is to give riders more ways to move with seamless access through the Uber app.”

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