The Tokyo robotaxi pilot marks Uber’s first autonomous vehicle partnership in Japan, as Uber, Wayve, and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to develop and operate a robotaxi service in the Japanese capital. The first deployments are planned for late 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Under the agreement, Nissan LEAF electric vehicles will be fitted with Wayve’s AI Driver, an end-to-end autonomous system the company has been testing in Japan since early 2025. Passengers will access the service through Uber’s ride-hailing platform. In the initial phase, a trained safety operator will remain in each vehicle.
How the Three-Way Partnership Works
Uber intends to launch the service through a licensed taxi partner in Japan and is currently selecting one. The licensed-partner model fits Japan’s strict taxi licensing regime, which has historically limited Uber’s direct operations in the country. Autonomous vehicles operated through a licensed taxi company align more closely with Japan’s regulatory framework.
Wayve’s AI Driver operates without high-definition maps, learning instead from real-world data. The company states this approach enables deployment in new environments with minimal localisation overhead. Wayve claims to be the first autonomous vehicle developer to have driven zero-shot — without prior city-specific tuning — across more than 500 cities in Europe, North America, and Japan in a single year.
Wayve’s Recent Funding and Valuation
For Wayve, founded in Cambridge in 2017 by Alex Kendall and Amar Shah, the Tokyo announcement follows a major funding milestone. On 25 February 2026, the company raised $1.2 billion in a Series D round led by Eclipse, Balderton, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, valuing it at $8.6 billion. Uber, Microsoft, Nvidia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis participated in the round.
Uber has separately committed up to $300 million in milestone-based capital to support multi-year robotaxi deployments across Wayve’s network. Tokyo is the second city confirmed for that network, after London, where robotaxi trials are expected to begin earlier in 2026. The broader plan covers more than ten cities globally.
Tokyo robotaxi pilot Quotes from Leadership
“Tokyo represents an important step forward in bringing embodied intelligence to one of the world’s most sophisticated mobility markets. We have been testing our technology throughout Japan since early 2025, building extensive experience in the country’s unique road environments.”
Alex Kendall, CEO, Wayve
“Nissan’s vision is to bring mobility intelligence to everyday life. This initiative reflects how we translate that ambition into real-world applications.”
Ivan Espinosa, President and CEO, Nissan
“Autonomous mobility is becoming an increasingly important part of the Uber platform. We look forward to expanding into Tokyo and introducing new, modern ways to travel in some of the world’s largest cities.”
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber
Nissan’s Broader Autonomous Driving Strategy
For Nissan, the partnership deepens an existing relationship with Wayve. The automaker has been integrating Wayve’s artificial intelligence into its next-generation ProPILOT driver-assistance system, with first consumer vehicles expected in fiscal year 2027. The Tokyo pilot serves as a commercial proving ground for technology Nissan plans to embed in mass-market cars.
Tokyo’s dense junctions, narrow lanes, and complex signage make it one of the most demanding driving environments globally. Establishing a credible safety record in Tokyo traffic would strengthen the case for deploying Wayve’s AI Driver in other cities. The late-2026 timeline remains subject to discussions with national and municipal regulators in Japan.
Future Outlook
Japan has developed a relatively permissive legal framework for autonomous vehicle testing. However, commercial deployment at scale requires ongoing engagement with regulators, and any incident during the pilot phase would draw significant scrutiny. The three partners are proceeding through a licensed taxi operator to navigate these requirements.
Meanwhile, Wayve’s global expansion continues. The company’s platform targets more than ten cities, with London and Tokyo as the first two confirmed locations. As the network grows, the results from Tokyo’s demanding road conditions will likely inform deployments in subsequent markets.