Just a day after Uber ended its 12-year ride-hailing operation in Nigeria, the global mobility company has moved into a very different phase of its business — putting autonomous vehicles on the streets of London.

Uber on Thursday launched a limited robotaxi service in the British capital in partnership with Wayve, a UK-based self-driving technology company, signalling the company’s growing push to make autonomous mobility a central part of its global strategy.

The timing is striking.

While Nigerian riders were adjusting to the disappearance of the Uber service following the company’s September 2 exit, Uber was unveiling a technology aimed at changing how people may move around major cities in the future.

The London rollout is initially small, with fewer than 20 Wayve-powered Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles available. The vehicles are equipped with Wayve’s artificial-intelligence driving system, which uses cameras, radar and AI models to navigate roads and respond to changing traffic conditions.

The cars are not yet completely driverless.

A licensed human operator will remain inside each vehicle to monitor the journey and intervene when necessary, pending further regulatory approvals for fully autonomous operations.

For passengers, the service has been integrated into the existing Uber platform. Riders requesting UberX, Uber Comfort or Uber Electric in selected areas could be matched with one of the autonomous vehicles without paying an additional fee.

Passengers will also be notified when they have been matched with a robotaxi and can choose whether to continue with the autonomous vehicle or switch to a conventional ride.

For Uber, however, the London launch represents more than another transport option.

The company sees autonomous vehicles as a major part of its next growth phase and has been building partnerships with technology and automotive companies to expand its presence in the sector.

Uber’s partnership with Wayve dates back to 2024, when the ride-hailing giant invested directly in the British startup as both companies began working towards deploying autonomous vehicles across multiple markets.

Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s global head of autonomous mobility, said the London launch would help the company build confidence among consumers and governments as it expands its autonomous ambitions.

London was chosen as an important testing ground partly because of the complexity of its roads. Wayve CEO and co-founder Alex Kendall described the city as one of the world’s most challenging driving environments.

The companies are already looking beyond London.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company plans to expand its autonomous partnerships to other markets, including Tokyo, where Wayve-powered Nissan Leaf vehicles are expected to be introduced later this year

The development places Uber at the centre of a broader race among technology companies to commercialise self-driving transportation.

For now, human drivers remain part of London’s robotaxi experiment. But the direction is becoming increasingly clear: Uber is preparing for a transport market where the driver behind the wheel may eventually no longer be necessary.

And as the company leaves some traditional markets behind, it is simultaneously putting more resources into the technology it believes could define the next era of mobility.