robotaxi.fyi
Updated

State of the industry · 9 October 2026

Robotaxis are a US business with a European pilot programme

Fourteen years after the first public road tests, exactly one company runs driverless taxis at scale: Waymo clears more than half a million paid rides a week across 15 US metros. Tesla and Zoox have working services in a handful of cities. Europe got its first commercial robotaxi in April 2026 in Zagreb — and as of today there is still no European city where a member of the public can hail a driverless taxi and pay for it. The gap is not sensing hardware. It is permits.

500k+/week

Paid driverless rides

Waymo, September 2026. The rest of the Western industry combined is a rounding error against this. Waymo

15

US metros with public service

Waymo One cities open to riders. Tesla adds 7, Zoox 2. Waymo One

4

European robotaxi cities you can book

Zagreb, London, Madrid and Hamburg — every one with a trained human still in the car. Fixed-route AV shuttles run in several more. Tech.eu

0

Driverless taxis you can hail in Europe

No European city lets the public hail a paid robotaxi with an empty driver's seat. Zagreb's driver-out rides are invitation-only; the only driver-out services are fixed-route shuttles in France, Estonia and Switzerland. Pony.ai IR

271Mmi

Cumulative driverless miles

Waymo, through June 2026 — with 82% fewer injury crashes than a human benchmark on the same roads. Waymo safety report

22

European states in the EU testbed pact

Signatories to the June 2026 cross-border AV testbed declaration, backed by €20M from the Connecting Europe Facility. European Commission

Where robotaxis operate

Every city with a service you can book, a vehicle on public roads, or a committed launch. Click a dot for operators, dates and sources — and use the United States / Europe switch in the header to change region.

  • Driverless & paidOpen to the public, fares charged, nobody in the driver's seat.
  • Paid, operator onboardAnyone can book and pay, but a trained operator rides along.
  • Pilot — invite or freeReal passengers, but gated by waitlist, invitation, or no fare.
  • Road testingVehicles on public roads; mapping or staff-only rides, no public passengers.
  • AnnouncedCommitted city with a date or a permit, not yet driving passengers.
AlabamaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode Island
United States — 15 metros with public driverless service
United KingdomUkraineTurkeyTunisiaSwitzerlandSwedenSpainSlovakiaSloveniaSerbiaRussiaRomaniaPortugalPolandNorwayNetherlandsMoroccoMontenegroMoldovaNorth MacedoniaLuxembourgLithuaniaLatviaItalyIrelandHungaryGreeceGermanyFranceFinlandEstoniaDenmarkCzechiaCroatiaBulgariaBosnia and Herz.BelgiumBelarusAustriaAndorraAlgeriaAlbania
Europe — 11 cities carrying passengers, none driver-out on a public fare

Boundaries from Natural Earth (public domain). A dot marks a city, not a service area — most operators cover a fraction of the metro they are listed in.

City by city

45 cities tracked across the US and Europe, sorted by how far each market has actually got. The header switch picks the region; these pills filter what you see within it.

United States16 with passengers · 30 tracked

Houston Texas, United States Driverless & paid 4 operators

Nuro's chosen first commercial market, targeted for 2027 with Lucid Gravity vehicles.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessFeb 2026Select riders from Feb 2026, open to the public from Aug 2026.
  • TeslaDriverlessApr 2026Unsupervised rides.
  • ZooxAnnouncedannouncedNamed as an expansion market, no timeline.
  • NuroAnnounced2027 targetLucid Gravity fleet, commercial service targeted mid-2027.

Sources: Waymo One

Las Vegas Nevada, United States Driverless & paid 4 operators

The most crowded robotaxi city in America: Zoox's first paid market, Waymo's newest, Motional's only, and a Tesla permit for up to 5,000 vehicles sitting unused.

Robotaxi

  • ZooxDriverlessAug 2026First commercial launch of a purpose-built robotaxi with no controls; free public rides from Sep 2025, fares from 10 Aug 2026.
  • WaymoDriverlessSep 2026Opened 14 Sep 2026.
  • MotionalSupervised2023Hyundai Ioniq 5s on Uber with a safety operator in every car; driver-out still targeted.
  • TeslaAnnouncedAug 2026 permitNevada permit for up to 5,000 vehicles granted 20 Aug 2026; no public riders yet.

Sources: CNBC · Waymo One

San Francisco Bay Area · California, United States Driverless & paid 4 operators

The densest competitive market on earth: three driverless fleets and a fourth in testing. California's rules are also why Tesla alone must keep a human behind the wheel here.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessJun 2024Service spans 40+ Bay Area cities; freeway rides resumed Jul 2026.
  • TeslaSupervisedJul 2025Safety driver in the driver's seat — Tesla lacks a CPUC driverless passenger permit.
  • ZooxPilotNov 2025Purpose-built robotaxi, free rides via waitlist; service area quadrupled in spring 2026.
  • NuroTesting2026~100 Lucid Gravity SUVs, employee riders with a safety operator.

Sources: Waymo One · TechCrunch

Austin Texas, United States Driverless & paid 3 operators

Where Tesla's robotaxi programme started, and the only city where its purpose-built Cybercab carries paying passengers. Waymo sells the same city through the Uber app.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessMar 2025Booked exclusively through the Uber app.
  • TeslaDriverlessJun 2025Launched with an in-car safety monitor; unsupervised rides from Nov 2025, Cybercab in the paid fleet since Sep 2026.
  • ZooxTestingMar 2026Employee rides ahead of a public launch.

Sources: Wikipedia — Tesla Robotaxi · TechCrunch

Dallas Texas, United States Driverless & paid 3 operators

Three operators, three different business models: Waymo direct, Tesla first-party, Avride as an Uber supplier.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessFeb 2026Select riders from Feb 2026, open to the public from Aug 2026.
  • TeslaDriverlessApr 2026Unsupervised rides; Tesla does not disclose the supervised/unsupervised split.
  • AvrideSupervised2025200+ Hyundai Ioniq 5s on Uber with a safety operator; 100,000+ rides by Aug 2026.

Sources: Waymo One · Wikipedia — Avride

Miami Florida, United States Driverless & paid 3 operators

Florida's permissive AV statute made it the fastest multi-operator ramp in the country — Tesla launched here unsupervised from day one.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessApr 2026Waitlist removed and opened to all riders in Jun 2026.
  • TeslaDriverlessJul 2026No safety monitor from launch, unlike the Texas rollout.
  • ZooxTestingApr 2026Employee rides.

Sources: Wikipedia — Tesla Robotaxi · CNBC

Atlanta Georgia, United States Driverless & paid 2 operators

Both national ride-hail apps sell an autonomous product here: Waymo via Uber, May Mobility via Lyft.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessJun 2025Uber app only.
  • May MobilitySupervised2025Shared AV rides on the Lyft network with an onboard operator.

Sources: Waymo One · Robotaxi Report

Orlando Florida, United States Driverless & paid 2 operators

Tourist-heavy geography that both Waymo and Tesla reached within five months of each other.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessFeb 2026Opened with select riders, now bookable in the Waymo One app.
  • TeslaDriverlessJul 2026Unsupervised rides.

Sources: Waymo One

Phoenix Arizona, United States Driverless & paid 2 operators

The oldest driverless service anywhere. Waymo's original market covers nine municipalities and includes curbside airport pickup at Sky Harbor.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessOct 2020First fully driverless public service in the world; Sky Harbor airport access.
  • TeslaAnnouncedannouncedNamed as a next market; no public rides yet.

Sources: Waymo One

Tampa Florida, United States Driverless & paid 2 operators

Tesla got here first by two months — a reversal of the usual order.

Robotaxi

  • TeslaDriverlessJul 2026Unsupervised rides from launch.
  • WaymoDriverlessSep 2026Opened 1 Sep 2026.

Sources: Waymo One

Los Angeles California, United States Driverless & paid 1 operator

Ten cities inside the service area, including Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessNov 2024Second-largest Waymo market by area.

Sources: Waymo One

Nashville Tennessee, United States Driverless & paid 1 operator

The first city where Waymo rides are sold through Lyft as well as its own app.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoDriverlessJun 2026Waymo One app plus Lyft from 9 Sep 2026.

Sources: Waymo One

Minneapolis Eden Prairie · Minnesota, United States Paid, operator onboard 2 operators

May Mobility runs small shared AV services in Eden Prairie and Grand Rapids; Waymo has named Minneapolis as a future market.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • May MobilitySupervised2022Shared shuttles with an onboard operator, integrated with local transit.
  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedOn the Waymo One "up next" list.

Sources: The Charge Port tracker

San Diego California, United States Pilot — invite or free 2 operators

California's third Waymo market; Zoox is testing here too.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoPilotSep 2026Driverless rides for early-access riders.
  • ZooxAnnouncedannouncedTesting announced, no service date.

Sources: Waymo One

Denver Colorado, United States Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

Waymo's first mountain-winter market, opened alongside San Diego and Tampa on 1 September 2026.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoPilotSep 2026Driverless rides, early-access riders first.

Sources: Waymo One

San Antonio Texas, United States Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

Fully driverless from the start, but still gated behind the Waymo One waitlist.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoPilotFeb 2026Driverless rides for select riders; general availability pending.

Sources: Waymo One

New York New York, United States Road testing 1 operator

New York State still requires a human behind the wheel, so testing runs on short, renewable permits — eight cars in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoTestingJul 2025Safety-driver testing under NYC DOT permits; no passenger service.

Sources: The Robot Report

Washington District of Columbia, United States Road testing 1 operator

The sharpest political fight in the industry. A Council bill would demand round-the-clock service to all eight wards plus a vehicle-miles fee on empty cruising; app drivers and unions rallied against it in October 2026.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoTesting2025Mapping and supervised testing while awaiting a Council vote.

Sources: WTOP

Baltimore Maryland, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Boston Massachusetts, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Charlotte North Carolina, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Chicago Illinois, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Detroit Michigan, United States Announced 1 operator

Named in Waymo's 2026 expansion batch; snow-belt validation is the point.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnounced2026 targetAnnounced market, launch sequencing unconfirmed.

Sources: Waymo One

New Orleans Louisiana, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list — and the historic birthplace of the sector, via Carnegie Mellon.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Portland Oregon, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Sacramento California, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

Seattle Washington, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list; wet-weather validation market.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

St. Louis Missouri, United States Announced 1 operator

On Waymo's published "up next" list.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoAnnouncedannouncedGroundwork city.

Sources: Waymo One

No city in United States is at that stage yet.

Europe11 with passengers · 15 tracked

Rovaltain Drôme, France Driverless & paid 1 operator

Europe's first fully driverless commercial AV passenger service — and it is a business-park shuttle, not a taxi. WeRide and Renault removed the operator here in March 2025, a year before anyone managed it with a robotaxi.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • WeRideDriverlessMar 2025With Renault Group; L4 Robobus at the Rovaltain business park.

Sources: Automotive World

Tallinn Estonia Driverless & paid 1 operator

The first autonomous passenger service at any European airport with nobody onboard: Estonian maker Auve Tech was authorised to remove the safety operator in August 2026 and launched the driver-out shuttle in October.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • Auve TechDriverlessOct 2026Tallinn Airport shuttle, no onboard safety operator.

Sources: Robotics & Automation News

London United Kingdom Paid, operator onboard 4 operators

Four operators in one city, and the only European market where a US, a British and two Chinese stack all compete. Every vehicle still carries a TfL-licensed driver, because the UK's driverless passenger permits only opened in May 2026.

Robotaxi

  • WayveSupervisedSep 2026London's first public robotaxi service, on Uber from 3 Sep 2026: ~15 Ford Mustang Mach-E, safety driver onboard, city-wide except airports.
  • WaymoTestingApr 2026~24 vehicles; moved from manual mapping to autonomous testing with specialists in Apr 2026, commercial launch targeted once DfT rules land.
  • Apollo GoTestingJul 2026RT6 fleet testing in Brent with FREENOW (Lyft); commercial service targeted 2027.
  • Pony.aiTestingOct 2026Gen-7 robotaxis entering test with Uber.

Sources: Uber IR · TechCrunch · electrive

Zagreb Croatia Paid, operator onboard 2 operators

Europe's first commercial robotaxi service, launched 8 April 2026 by Rimac's mobility arm Verne on Pony.ai's seventh-generation stack. Since 10 September 2026 it has also run Europe's first driver-out passenger rides — a 22 km invitation-only route to Franjo Tuđman Airport.

Robotaxi

  • VerneSupervisedApr 2026Bookable and paid in the Verne app, trained operator onboard; Uber integration announced.
  • Pony.aiPilotSep 2026Driver-out rides for invited passengers on the airport corridor.

Sources: Tech.eu · Pony.ai IR

Leuven Belgium Paid, operator onboard 1 operator

Belgium's first federal Level 4 test permit, used for a WeRide Robobus shuttle between the main station and the adjacent corridor, with a safety officer aboard.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • WeRideSupervised2025Robobus in regular operation; safety officer onboard.

Sources: Wikipedia — WeRide

Sälen Sweden Paid, operator onboard 1 operator

One of Europe's first Level 4 vehicles in scheduled public transport: a Karsan Autonomous e-ATAK bus on a 4.8 km route in a ski region.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • KarsanSupervised2026Autonomous e-ATAK in commercial service on a fixed route.

Sources: Self Drive News

Hamburg Germany Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

Volkswagen's own answer to Waymo. MOIA opened autonomous ride-pooling to pre-registered residents on 15 July 2026 with ten ID. Buzz AD vans — 13 cameras, 9 lidars, 5 radars on Mobileye Drive — across Winterhude, Barmbek and Wandsbek.

Robotaxi

  • MOIAPilotJul 2026Ten ID. Buzz AD vans, safety driver onboard, invited residents only.

Sources: Electric Cars Report

Madrid Spain Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

Spain's traffic authority issued the country's first national Level 4 robotaxi licence on 10 September 2026. Dozens of WeRide GXRs are in pre-commercial service with operators onboard; full public service is targeted before the end of 2026.

Robotaxi

  • WeRidePilotSep 2026With Uber and fleet operator Avomo; DGT national L4 licence, phased path to driver-out.

Sources: Smart Cities World

Oslo Norway Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

Transit authority Ruter and operator Holo took MOIA's ID. Buzz AD into service in the Groruddalen district from spring 2026, after two years of Mobileye Drive testing. Ruter's stated long-run ambition is up to 30,000 shared AVs in the city's transport network.

Robotaxi

  • MOIAPilot2026With Ruter and Holo; ID. Buzz AD on Mobileye Drive, operator onboard.

Sources: Businesswire

Paris France Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

No robotaxi service, but the most visible AV showcase in Europe: WeRide and Renault ran an autonomous Robobus at Roland-Garros for a third year in May 2026 on a 2.8 km, three-stop loop.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • WeRidePilot2024Seasonal Robobus with Renault Group at the French Open.

Sources: Autonomous Vehicle International

Turin Italy Pilot — invite or free 1 operator

Italy's most advanced public AV service: a self-driving minibus on five stops, bookable through the Wetaxi app. Sixty Italian mayors have joined a national network to pilot similar projects, and the first open-road test ran on Naples' Smart Road ring in June 2026.

Fixed-route shuttle

  • Local operatorPilot2026Self-driving minibus, five stops, bookable in Wetaxi.

Sources: TechXplore

Munich Germany Road testing 2 operators

Waymo's bridgehead into the EU — it incorporated Waymo Germany at Google's Munich office in June 2026 and started mapping in August, with public rides promised for the end of 2027. Uber and Momenta are running their own supervised L4 trial in the same city.

Robotaxi

  • WaymoTestingAug 2026Mapping and supervised testing via its own German subsidiary; commercial service targeted late 2027.
  • MomentaTesting2026L4 trial with Uber, safety operators onboard — Uber's first continental European AV market.

Sources: TechCrunch · CnEVPost

Luxembourg Luxembourg Road testing 1 operator

A twelve-month Level 4 pilot on public roads, started June 2026, pairing Pony.ai's stack with Stellantis' Peugeot e-Traveller and Bolt's ride-hailing demand — the only European programme fronted by a European app.

Robotaxi

  • Pony.aiTestingJun 2026With Stellantis and Bolt; 12-month L4 public-road pilot.

Sources: Stellantis

St. Gallen Appenzell · Eastern Switzerland, Switzerland Road testing 1 operator

The largest automated public-transport project planned in Europe: Baidu's Apollo Go and Swiss Post's PostBus running 'AmiGo' across an 80 km² FEDRO-permitted area in three cantons, using RT6 vehicles whose steering wheel comes out once driver-out operation starts. Test fleet since December 2025, regular service by Q1 2027.

Robotaxi

  • Apollo GoTestingDec 2025With PostBus (Swiss Post); FEDRO special permit, 80 km², regular operations no later than Q1 2027.

Sources: Electrek

Zurich Greater Zurich, Switzerland Announced 1 operator

Switzerland's AV ordinance made it the fastest permit shop in Europe. WeRide holds a FEDRO driverless permit for the Furttal corridor since November 2025 and plans a commercial Uber-app service before the end of 2026, with Rydera running the fleet. Its Robobus already runs driver-out at Zurich Airport.

Robotaxi

  • WeRideAnnouncedend-2026 targetCommercial robotaxi on the Uber app pending final FEDRO sign-off; airport Robobus already driver-out.

Sources: Uber IR

No city in Europe is at that stage yet.

Rest of the worldcontext, not coverage

Robotaxi services outside the US and Europe
CityCountry OperatorsStatus Notes
WuhanChinaApollo GoDriverlessThe largest driverless fleet in any single city; Apollo Go has passed 23 million cumulative rides worldwide.
BeijingChinaApollo Go, Pony.ai, WeRideDriverlessPaid driver-out service from several operators under municipal permits.
GuangzhouChinaPony.ai, WeRideDriverlessBoth companies' home market and the densest Chinese competition outside Beijing.
ShenzhenChinaPony.ai, AutoXDriverlessPony.ai runs fully driverless paid service; AutoX has gone quiet since 2024.
Hong KongChina (SAR)Apollo GoTestingFirst driverless test permit issued for a right-hand-drive market, July 2026 — the technical bridge to the UK.
DubaiUAEWeRide, Apollo GoDriverlessWeRide began fare-charging driver-out rides via Uber on 31 March 2026 in Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim; Apollo Go followed in July, on Uber from 20 August.
Abu DhabiUAEWeRideDriverlessFully driverless public service on the Uber app since November 2025.
RiyadhSaudi ArabiaWeRideSupervisedPart of a WeRide–Uber commitment to at least 1,200 robotaxis across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
DohaQatarPony.aiSupervisedPublic service with an onboard operator; driver-out rides remain invitation-only tests.
TokyoJapanWaymo, Nissan/WayveTestingWaymo has mapped seven central wards with Nihon Kotsu since 2024 and targets 2027; Nissan, Uber and Wayve are piloting Leaf-based robotaxis from late 2026.
SeoulSouth KoreaApollo Go, Pony.aiTestingApollo Go extended into South Korea in February 2026.
SingaporeSingaporeWeRide, Pony.aiSupervisedLong-running permitted operations; Waymo has named Singapore for 2028.

Company glossary

Who builds, who operates, who just sells the ride — the 22 names that matter, and what each is actually betting on.

Waymo

Operator

The only company running driverless taxis at commercial scale anywhere outside China. Waymo's defining choice is redundancy over cost: expensive sensing, pre-built maps and a remote-assistance layer, which is why it clears half a million paid rides a week while competitors count theirs in thousands. Its reported safety record — 82% fewer injury crashes than a human benchmark over 271 million miles — is the industry's main political asset.

Headquarters
United States
Owner
Alphabet
Founded
2009 (as Google's self-driving car project)
Approach
Lidar + radar + camera, HD maps, remote assistance
Vehicles
Jaguar I-PACE, Zeekr-built Waymo Ojai (6th gen), Hyundai Ioniq 5 from 2028
Scale
~4,000 vehicles · 500k+ paid rides/week · 271M driverless miles
Where
15 US metros; testing in Washington DC, New York, London, Munich, Tokyo
waymo.com

Tesla

Operator / OEM

The cheapest hardware bet in the industry and the loudest. Tesla's camera-only approach means a robotaxi costs a fraction of a Waymo, but it reached public driverless operation four years later and still does not disclose how much of each fleet runs unsupervised. The Cybercab — no wheel, no pedals — entered paid service in Austin in September 2026 and promptly drew an NHTSA compliance investigation.

Headquarters
United States
Founded
2003
Approach
Camera-only end-to-end neural network (FSD), no lidar, no HD maps
Vehicles
Model Y; purpose-built two-seat Cybercab with no steering wheel
Scale
~476 vehicles registered in Texas (Sep 2026) · 1M+ cumulative unsupervised miles
Where
Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa driverless; SF Bay Area with a safety driver; Phoenix and Las Vegas permitted
tesla.com/robotaxi

Zoox

Operator

The purist's bet: rather than retrofit a car, Zoox built a vehicle with no driver's seat at all, which forced it through a bespoke federal approval route. It won the first NHTSA commercial exemption for a purpose-built robotaxi in July 2026 and started charging fares in Las Vegas three weeks later. Scale is still small, but no competitor has a cleaner answer to what a car without a driver should look like.

Headquarters
United States
Owner
Amazon
Founded
2014
Approach
Lidar-led, purpose-built bidirectional vehicle, no driver controls
Vehicles
Own carriage-style robotaxi — four seats facing each other, no steering wheel
Scale
~2M autonomous miles · ~1M passengers carried
Where
Las Vegas (paid), San Francisco (free waitlist), Austin and Miami (staff), Houston and San Diego announced
zoox.com

Wayve

Technology developer

Europe's own champion, and the only one. Wayve trains a single driving model rather than hand-engineering rules on top of maps, which makes it cheap to move between cities but harder to certify. It launched London's first public robotaxi service with Uber on 3 September 2026 — with a TfL-licensed safety driver in every car, because UK driverless passenger permits arrived only months earlier.

Headquarters
United Kingdom
Owner
Independent — SoftBank, Nvidia, Microsoft backed
Founded
2017
Approach
End-to-end learned driving, no HD maps, hardware-agnostic
Vehicles
Ford Mustang Mach-E in London; Nissan Leaf for the Tokyo pilot
Scale
~15 vehicles at London launch
Where
London (public, supervised); Tokyo pilot with Nissan and Uber from late 2026
wayve.ai

Verne

Operator

The company that actually beat everyone to a commercial European robotaxi. Rimac's mobility arm launched paid public service in Zagreb on 8 April 2026 using Pony.ai's stack in a vehicle of its own design, with operators onboard. Verne is now the template for the European route to market: a local operator, a Chinese stack and a national permit.

Headquarters
Croatia
Owner
Rimac Group
Founded
2022
Approach
Pony.ai 7th-generation autonomous driving system
Vehicles
Own two-seat electric robotaxi, built in Croatia
Scale
Permitting talks with 11 cities, 30+ more under consideration
Where
Zagreb (commercial)
letsverne.com

WeRide

Operator / technology developer

The most internationally aggressive Chinese operator, and Uber's main AV supplier outside the US. It holds Spain's first national L4 licence, a Swiss driverless permit, Belgium's first federal L4 test permit, and it ran Europe's first driver-out commercial passenger service — a Renault-partnered Robobus in rural France, in March 2025. It claims its Middle East robotaxi business has been operationally profitable since 2025.

Headquarters
China (Guangzhou)
Owner
Listed (Nasdaq: WRD)
Founded
2017
Approach
Lidar-led L4 platform across robotaxi, Robobus and sanitation vehicles
Vehicles
GXR robotaxi, Robobus shuttle
Scale
1,800+ robotaxis, ~400 in the Middle East · 21+ rides/vehicle/day in China
Where
Beijing, Guangzhou, Abu Dhabi, Dubai (driverless); Madrid, Zurich, Leuven, Rovaltain, Singapore
weride.ai

Pony.ai

Operator / technology developer

The stack behind Europe's first commercial robotaxi. Pony.ai sells technology to local champions — Verne in Croatia, Stellantis and Bolt in Luxembourg — rather than fighting for its own brand abroad, and in October 2026 added a London test programme with Uber. Like its domestic rivals it is still loss-making: Chinese fleet utilisation runs well below Waymo's.

Headquarters
China (Guangzhou)
Owner
Listed (Nasdaq: PONY)
Founded
2016
Approach
Lidar-led L4, 7th-generation platform designed for mass production
Vehicles
Toyota, GAC and BAIC platforms; Peugeot e-Traveller for the Stellantis programme
Scale
~1,975 robotaxis, 3,500 targeted by end-2026 · 1.5M+ registered users in China
Where
Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen (driverless); Zagreb, Luxembourg, London, Doha, Singapore, South Korea
pony.ai

Apollo Go (Baidu)

Operator

The volume leader by cumulative rides, and the operator with the most credible shot at a large European public-transport contract: its AmiGo joint venture with Swiss Post's PostBus covers an 80 km² permitted area across three Swiss cantons. Its RT6 is the clearest statement that robotaxi economics are a manufacturing problem. Chinese regulators imposed a cooling-off period after a March 2026 fleet-wide stall in Wuhan.

Headquarters
China (Beijing)
Owner
Baidu
Founded
2021 (as Apollo Go)
Approach
Lidar-led L4; RT6 purpose-built vehicle with a removable steering wheel
Vehicles
RT6 (6th gen), built to a reported sub-$30,000 cost
Scale
~1,000 vehicles · 23M+ cumulative rides · weekly peak above 350,000 orders
Where
Wuhan, Beijing and other Chinese cities; Dubai (driverless commercial); testing in Hong Kong, London and eastern Switzerland
apollo.auto

MOIA

Operator / OEM arm

Europe's incumbent-industry answer: a homologated series-production autonomous van plus the software and operations to run it, sold as a turnkey package to transit authorities. That makes MOIA the most likely vehicle supplier for European cities that want AVs without handing a Chinese or American operator the customer relationship — but its own services still carry safety drivers.

Headquarters
Germany (Hamburg)
Owner
Volkswagen Group
Founded
2016
Approach
Mobileye Drive — 13 cameras, 9 lidars, 5 radars
Vehicles
Volkswagen ID. Buzz AD, the first purpose-built autonomous production vehicle from a legacy OEM
Scale
10 vans in the Hamburg pilot
Where
Hamburg (invited residents), Oslo with Ruter and Holo; US launches planned with Uber and Beep
moia.io

Mobileye

Technology supplier

The supplier most European AV projects quietly depend on. Mobileye sells the driving system rather than the service, which puts it inside MOIA's Hamburg vans, Ruter's Oslo fleet and Holon's shuttles at once. It also intends to operate, with a first US city due in 2027 — still unnamed as of late 2026.

Headquarters
Israel
Owner
Intel (majority)
Founded
1999
Approach
Mobileye Drive L4 system, REM crowdsourced mapping
Vehicles
Supplies OEMs; powers VW ID. Buzz AD, Holon shuttles
Scale
~100 vehicles at its own planned 2027 launch, ~17,000 within five years
Where
Supplier across Europe and the US; own service launch 2027 in an unnamed US city
mobileye.com

Momenta

Technology developer

Momenta's pitch is that consumer ADAS at scale is the cheapest route to L4 data, and Uber bought it: Munich is the first continental European city either company named for AV deployment. It is the most direct test of whether a Chinese stack can clear German type-approval.

Headquarters
China (Suzhou)
Owner
Independent — Mercedes-Benz, SAIC, Toyota backed
Founded
2016
Approach
Mass-production ADAS feeding an L4 stack ('flywheel' data strategy)
Vehicles
OEM platforms
Scale
Munich trial fleet, size undisclosed
Where
Munich (supervised L4 trial with Uber)
momenta.cn/en

Uber

Demand platform

Having failed to build its own self-driving car, Uber became the sector's distribution layer instead — and in Europe it is the single most important actor, because almost every launch reaches the public through its app. The strategy's risk is symmetrical: Waymo sells through Uber in two cities and bypasses it in thirteen.

Headquarters
United States
Founded
2009
Approach
None — aggregates third-party AV fleets
Vehicles
Partner fleets
Scale
20+ announced AV partnerships
Where
Waymo in Austin and Atlanta; WeRide in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Madrid, Zurich; Wayve and Pony.ai in London; Momenta in Munich; Motional and Avride in the US
uber.com

Lyft / FREENOW

Demand platform

Lyft's purchase of FREENOW gave it a European taxi network in 150+ cities, and it is using it exactly as expected: Baidu's first London road tests run under the FREENOW brand. The European AV market is being intermediated by two American apps.

Headquarters
United States / Germany
Owner
Lyft (FREENOW acquired 2025)
Founded
2012
Approach
None — aggregates third-party AV fleets
Vehicles
Partner fleets
Where
Waymo in Nashville; May Mobility in Atlanta; Apollo Go testing in London via FREENOW
lyft.com

Bolt

Demand platform

Europe's own ride-hailing platform, and the only one with an AV programme of its own. The Luxembourg pilot matters mostly as a counter-example: a European app, a European OEM and a Chinese stack, with no US company in the chain.

Headquarters
Estonia
Founded
2013
Approach
None — aggregates third-party AV fleets
Vehicles
Partner fleets
Where
Luxembourg pilot with Pony.ai and Stellantis
bolt.eu

Motional

Operator

Once a front-runner, now the clearest case of lost momentum: Motional still puts a safety operator in every Las Vegas car and has not announced a driver-out date, while two competitors launched driverless service in the same city during 2026.

Headquarters
United States
Owner
Hyundai Motor Group
Founded
2020 (Hyundai–Aptiv JV)
Approach
Lidar-led L4
Vehicles
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Scale
Fleet undisclosed
Where
Las Vegas (supervised, via Uber)
motional.com

May Mobility

Operator

The transit-contract strategy: small shared services procured by cities and campuses rather than a consumer app. It gets May Mobility into markets no robotaxi will touch for a decade, at the cost of growth — and in 2026 one of its few driver-out deployments moved to the 'previous' column.

Headquarters
United States
Owner
Independent — Toyota, BMW i Ventures, NTT backed
Founded
2017
Approach
Multi-policy decision making on retrofitted platforms
Vehicles
Toyota Sienna
Scale
550,000+ commercial AV rides across 1.1M miles
Where
Atlanta via Lyft, Eden Prairie and Grand Rapids (Minnesota), sites in Japan
maymobility.com

Nuro

Technology developer

Pivoted from autonomous delivery pods to licensing its driver, betting that the winning position is being the Android of autonomy rather than another fleet operator. It still needs a California driverless deployment permit and CPUC approval before carrying a paying passenger.

Headquarters
United States
Owner
Independent — SoftBank, Nvidia, Uber backed
Founded
2016
Approach
Nuro Driver, licensed to OEMs and fleet operators
Vehicles
Lucid Gravity SUV for the Uber programme
Scale
~100-vehicle engineering fleet
Where
SF Bay Area (staff testing); Houston targeted 2027
nuro.ai

Avride

Technology developer

The Yandex self-driving programme, re-domiciled after the invasion of Ukraine and now one of Uber's US suppliers. Every Dallas car still has a safety operator, and NHTSA opened an investigation into its driving behaviour in 2026.

Headquarters
United States (ex-Yandex)
Owner
Nebius Group
Founded
2024 (spun out of Yandex SDG)
Approach
Lidar-led L4, plus sidewalk delivery robots
Vehicles
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Scale
200+ vehicles · 100,000+ Uber rides · 1.3M+ autonomous miles
Where
Dallas (supervised, via Uber)
avride.ai

Auve Tech

Operator / OEM

The first company authorised to carry passengers at a European airport with no safety operator onboard — a small deployment that nonetheless holds a record every larger operator wanted.

Headquarters
Estonia
Founded
2018
Approach
L4 shuttle platform
Vehicles
Own autonomous shuttles (MiCa and predecessors)
Scale
Airport shuttle service
Where
Tallinn Airport (driver-out)
auvetech.com

Holon

OEM

A European attempt at the purpose-built autonomous shuttle, aimed at public-transport procurement rather than ride-hailing — accessibility compliance is the product, autonomy is bought in from Mobileye.

Headquarters
Germany
Owner
Benteler Group
Founded
2022
Approach
Mobileye Drive
Vehicles
Purpose-built autonomous shuttle, built to US and EU accessibility standards
Scale
Pre-production
Where
Germany and US transit programmes
holon-mobility.com

Xpeng

OEM / operator

Named its robotaxi service Yoyo in October 2026 and opened it on invitation — the newest entrant from the Chinese EV industry, following the same consumer-ADAS-to-robotaxi path as Tesla and Momenta.

Headquarters
China (Guangzhou)
Owner
Listed (NYSE: XPEV)
Founded
2014
Approach
In-house, camera-and-lidar, shared with its consumer ADAS
Vehicles
Own robotaxi models
Scale
Invitation-only pilot
Where
China
xpeng.com

Cruise

Defunct

The cautionary tale. Cruise scaled San Francisco fast, lost its permits after a pedestrian dragging incident and a mishandled disclosure in 2023, and was wound down by GM in December 2024 with the team redirected to driver-assistance for personal cars. Its collapse is the main reason every surviving operator over-communicates safety data.

Headquarters
United States
Owner
General Motors
Founded
2013
Approach
Lidar-led L4 (discontinued)
Vehicles
Chevrolet Bolt; the purpose-built Origin was cancelled
Scale
Shut down December 2024
getcruise.com

The rules, by jurisdiction

Robotaxi maps are really permit maps. This is what each government currently allows.

United States Permissive, state by state

There is still no federal robotaxi framework. Vehicles without controls need an NHTSA exemption — Zoox won the first for a purpose-built robotaxi in July 2026 — but the right to carry passengers is a state matter. Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Tennessee are effectively open; California splits approval between the DMV and the CPUC, which is why Tesla must keep a driver in the Bay Area; New York still mandates a human behind the wheel. Washington DC is debating a bill that would require 24/7 service to all eight wards plus a fee on empty cruising.

European Union Framework first, volume later

The EU was first in the world to write type-approval rules for fully driverless vehicles, under the General Safety Regulation — but only inside narrow operational design domains, and with a cap of 1,500 autonomous vehicles per manufacturer across the Union. Executive Vice-President Séjourné has said the cap will be lifted, and a delegated regulation aligning the EU with the new UN automated-driving rules is due for adoption in Q4 2026. AVs are also high-risk AI systems under the AI Act. In June 2026, 22 states signed a declaration on cross-border AV testbeds, backed by €20M from the Connecting Europe Facility.

United Kingdom Fast-tracked

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is Europe's most complete AV statute. Automated passenger services were pulled forward a full year to spring 2026: the Permits for Automated Passenger Services Regulations 2026 took effect on 15 May 2026, letting the DVSA issue permits — valid up to five years, with local licensing-authority consent — for taxi-like services with no safety driver. Government has signalled further rule changes in the second half of 2026 to let driverless taxis operate in London.

Germany Early law, slow permits

Germany legalised Level 4 operation in defined areas back in 2021–22, before anyone else in Europe, and added teledriving rules later. In practice approval runs through federal type-approval plus the relevant Länder authority for each operating area, which is why Hamburg's pilot is ten vans in three districts and Waymo's own Munich target is late 2027.

Switzerland The permit shop

Not in the EU, and it shows. The automated-driving ordinance in force since March 2025 lets the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) issue area-specific special permits directly. FEDRO granted WeRide a driverless permit for Zurich's Furttal in November 2025 and cleared Baidu's Apollo Go for an 80 km² Level 4 area across three eastern cantons in June 2026 — the largest permitted automated public-transport footprint in Europe.

Spain Open for business

The DGT issued Spain's first national Level 4 robotaxi licence on 10 September 2026, to WeRide with Uber and Avomo, covering public operation in the Region of Madrid with a phased path from onboard operators to driver-out.

Croatia First mover

Croatian permits produced Europe's first commercial robotaxi service in April 2026 and the continent's first driver-out passenger rides in September — a small market moving faster than any large one.

France Shuttles yes, taxis no

France has had a Level 4 framework for fixed-route automated public transport since 2022 and used it for Europe's first driver-out commercial passenger service, in the Drôme in March 2025. There is still no robotaxi service.

Nordics & Baltics Transit-led

Norway's Ruter took MOIA's ID. Buzz AD into Groruddalen from spring 2026 and talks about 30,000 shared AVs long-term; Sweden has a Level 4 bus in scheduled service in Sälen; Estonia authorised Auve Tech to drop the onboard operator at Tallinn Airport in August 2026 — Europe's first driver-out airport passenger service.

Benelux Pilot-friendly

Belgium issued its first federal Level 4 test permit for WeRide's Leuven Robobus; the Netherlands allows testing with a remote driver; Luxembourg hosts a twelve-month Pony.ai–Stellantis–Bolt Level 4 public-road pilot started in June 2026.

Italy & Portugal Just arriving

Italy ran its first open-road autonomous test on the Naples Smart Road ring in June 2026 and has sixty mayors signed up to a national AV network, with a bookable minibus already running in Turin. Portugal's self-driving law was enacted on 8 June 2026 and took effect in July, when testing on Portuguese roads began.

China Scale, then a pause

City-level permits let Chinese operators reach driverless paid service years before Europe, and roughly 4,000–5,000 robotaxis now operate nationally. Regulators imposed a cooling-off period after a fleet-wide Apollo Go stall in March 2026, and analysts expect the major operators to stay loss-making through 2028 because utilisation per vehicle trails Waymo's.

How we got here

The decisions and launches that set the current board, most recent first.

  1. Uber and Pony.ai add a fourth robotaxi programme to London

    Gen-7 vehicles begin testing in the coming weeks, joining Wayve, Waymo and Apollo Go in the same city. TechCrunch

  2. Tallinn Airport gets Europe's first operator-free passenger shuttle

    Auve Tech removes the onboard safety operator, a first for any European airport service. Robotics & Automation News

  3. Chinese operators face losses into 2028

    Bloomberg Intelligence puts Pony.ai and WeRide utilisation well below Waymo's 58%+, with sustained operating losses expected through 2028. Bloomberg

  4. Waymo opens Las Vegas

    Its fifteenth US metro, and the fourth city where it competes directly with another driverless fleet. Waymo One

  5. Europe's first driver-out robotaxi rides, in Zagreb

    Pony.ai and Verne carry invited passengers with no safety operator on a 22 km route to Franjo Tuđman Airport. Pony.ai IR

  6. Spain issues its first national L4 robotaxi licence

    The DGT clears WeRide, Uber and Avomo for public operation in the Region of Madrid. Smart Cities World

  7. London's first public robotaxi service goes live

    Wayve and Uber launch with ~15 Ford Mustang Mach-E and a TfL-licensed safety driver in every car. Uber IR

  8. Tesla's Cybercab enters paid service — and an NHTSA investigation

    The two-seater with no steering wheel starts carrying passengers in Austin; NHTSA opens AQ26002 into its federal safety-standard compliance. Wikipedia — Tesla Robotaxi

  9. Waymo opens Denver, San Diego and Tampa in one day

    Three metros at once, all driverless from launch, all starting with early-access riders. Waymo One

  10. Waymo picks Munich for its first EU service

    Mapping starts within weeks through a new German subsidiary; public rides promised for the end of 2027. TechCrunch

  11. Zoox starts charging fares in Las Vegas

    The first commercial service anywhere by a purpose-built robotaxi with no driver controls. CNBC

  12. Baidu's Apollo Go starts London road tests

    RT6 vehicles run supervised in the borough of Brent with FREENOW by Lyft, targeting commercial service in 2027. electrive

  13. Volkswagen's MOIA opens Hamburg to residents

    Ten autonomous ID. Buzz AD vans on Mobileye Drive begin carrying pre-registered riders in three districts. Electric Cars Report

  14. Switzerland clears Apollo Go for an 80 km² L4 area

    FEDRO's special permit covers three eastern cantons for AmiGo, the Baidu–PostBus service — Europe's largest planned automated transport footprint. Electrek

  15. Europe signs a cross-border AV testbed pact

    Transport ministers back large-scale cross-border testing; signatories reach 22 states, with €20M from the Connecting Europe Facility. European Commission

  16. UK driverless passenger permits take effect

    The Permits for Automated Passenger Services Regulations 2026 let the DVSA licence taxi-like services with no safety driver, a year ahead of the original timetable. HSF Kramer

  17. Europe's first commercial robotaxi service opens in Zagreb

    Rimac's Verne starts paid public rides on Pony.ai's seventh-generation stack, with operators onboard. Tech.eu

  18. Dubai gets fare-charging driverless rides

    WeRide and Uber begin commercial driver-out operation in Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim — the Gulf moves ahead of Europe. Uber IR

  19. Waymo reaches ten US cities

    Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando open to select riders. TechCrunch

  20. Tesla removes the safety monitor in Austin

    Some vehicles begin running unsupervised, mixed into a fleet that mostly still carries monitors. Wikipedia — Tesla Robotaxi

Common questions

How many cities have robotaxis in 2026?

Around 30 cities worldwide have a robotaxi service the public can actually book, plus a similar number in testing. In the US, 15 metros have Waymo service, Tesla operates in seven and Zoox in two. In Europe, four cities — Zagreb, London, Madrid and Hamburg — let the public book an autonomous ride, all with a human still onboard. China, the UAE and Saudi Arabia add roughly a dozen more, several of them fully driverless.

Are there robotaxis in Europe?

Yes, but none that are both driverless and open to the public. Zagreb has had a commercial service from Verne since April 2026, London has had supervised Uber rides from Wayve since September 2026, Madrid is in pre-commercial operation under Spain's first Level 4 licence, and Hamburg runs an invite-only MOIA pilot. Every one of them keeps a trained operator in the vehicle. The only driver-out passenger services in Europe are fixed-route shuttles — in the French Drôme, at Tallinn Airport, and at Zurich Airport.

Which company is winning the robotaxi race?

By any operational measure, Waymo. It runs more than 500,000 paid driverless rides a week across 15 US metros with roughly 4,000 vehicles, and has published 271 million driverless miles. Baidu's Apollo Go leads on cumulative rides (23 million+) at much lower revenue per ride. Tesla has the cheapest hardware and the fastest city-adding cadence but does not disclose how much of its fleet runs unsupervised.

Why is Europe behind the US on robotaxis?

Not for want of technology — Wayve, Mobileye and Volkswagen's MOIA all have working systems, and Chinese operators hold European permits. The binding constraint is approval: the EU only type-approves driverless vehicles inside narrow operational design domains, and until recently capped them at 1,500 per manufacturer across the whole Union. Each country then adds its own operating permit. Switzerland and the UK, both outside that EU framework, have issued driverless permits faster than any member state.

Are robotaxis safe?

The only large published dataset comes from Waymo, which reports 82% fewer injury crashes and 95% fewer serious-injury crashes than a human benchmark over 271.3 million driverless miles, plus independent insurance data showing roughly 90% fewer liability claims. That is one operator's data on its own roads, so it does not generalise to the whole sector — Cruise was shut down in 2024 after a pedestrian injury and a mishandled disclosure, and NHTSA has open investigations into Tesla's Cybercab and Avride's driving behaviour.