Uber, Wayve and Nissan plan a robotaxi pilot in Tokyo, Uber's first autonomous project in Japan

Uber, Wayve and Nissan have agreed to launch a robotaxi pilot in Tokyo. If regulators give the green light, the first rides through Uber will begin by the end of 2026, and it will be the company's first autonomous project in Japan.

Why Tokyo

The agreement was signed on March 12, 2026. Formally, it is only a memorandum of understanding, but the goals are specific: prepare the pilot, put the cars on Tokyo's roads and build the service into Uber's familiar interface. For the market this is an important signal: instead of a quiet suburb, the companies chose a metropolis long considered one of the hardest places to drive. If the system copes here, it gains a strong argument for scaling further, including in other countries.

Tokyo tests self-driving cars not with promotional demos but with everyday reality. Dense intersections, narrow lanes, complex signage, heavy traffic and very little tolerance for error make the city a stress test for any autonomous system. In that context, the launch should not be read as just another PR announcement. It is rather an attempt to prove that robotaxis can be adapted not only to wide American roads but to a far more demanding urban environment.

How the service will launch

The pilot is built on Nissan LEAF electric cars equipped with the Wayve AI Driver system. Uber will handle booking and routing: users will order a ride the same way they order a regular taxi, except an autonomous system will drive the car.

There will be no fully driverless mode in the first phase. A trained safety operator will stay in the cabin, and the service is planned to run through a licensed Japanese taxi partner that Uber is still selecting. This is a more cautious scenario than putting cars on the road immediately with nobody inside.

Wayve's key feature is its bet on an end-to-end AI system that learns from real-world driving data and does not require an HD map for every new area. The company has been testing the technology in Japan since early 2025, and that experience is meant to help adapt the service to Tokyo's streets. For Wayve it is also a way to show that the same model can move between cities faster than classic autonomous stacks.

At this stage, the partners have disclosed these basic parameters of the pilot:

• preparation under way, with a launch targeted for the end of 2026
• Nissan LEAF as the base platform for the service
• Wayve AI Driver as the autonomous driving system
• ride booking through the Uber app

"Tokyo is an important step in bringing autonomous driving to one of the most challenging mobility markets," said

Wayve co-founder Alex Kendall.

Why it matters to the companies

For Uber, this deal is not an isolated experiment but part of a larger strategy. The company is already building a global network of partnerships with autonomous vehicle developers and linking them through its own app. Japan was an obvious gap: the market is large, urban transport is mature, and the driver shortage is gradually becoming a real problem. In its official statement, Uber explicitly called the country a critically important market and tied the project to the future of urban transport.

If the Tokyo pilot shows an acceptable level of safety and convenience, Uber will get a strong case for further expansion in Asia. Wayve gets a showcase for its technology in an environment where mistakes are immediately visible, and Nissan gets a chance to turn its work on AI systems for ordinary cars into a full mobility service. For the British startup, this is also a continuation of its global rollout with Uber: the companies have already announced plans covering more than ten cities, including London.

For Nissan, the project is valuable because it uses the production LEAF platform rather than a distant concept. In other words, this is not only a lab demonstration but an attempt to assemble a working chain: car, AI driver, app, operator and local partner.

What it means

The robotaxi market is increasingly moving from polished prototypes to concrete city pilots. Tokyo is a tough exam: the companies must prove not just that the technology works, but that it can fit complex rules, dense traffic and the daily rhythm of a metropolis. Projects like this show who is ready to move from promises to real urban operation.