Uber and Wayve partner with Nissan for robotaxi deployment in Japan

Nissan today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Wayve and Uber for the joint development of robotaxis in Japan, with a pilot program expected in Tokyo later this year. Initially, this will come with "a trained safety operator" in the car.

This will be operated using the Nissan Leaf powered by the Wayve AI Driver and the service will of course be available to riders through Uber, which is looking to partner with a licensed taxi company in Japan, and is currently in the process of selecting it.

The goal is to integrate Wayve's "end-to-end AI autonomous driving system" into Nissan's base vehicle, which connects to Uber's app, which matches robotaxis with individuals seeking transportation.

This will be Uber's first autonomous vehicle partnership in Japan, and it's part of Uber and Wayve's global robotaxi rollout, which includes planned services in over ten cities worldwide.