The plan sets the scene for simultaneous trials by US and Chinese autonomous taxi giants in London, as the capital becomes the European centre of a self-driving revolution.

Uber and Lyft ‌are both planning to launch driverless taxi trials in London in 2026, in separate partnerships with Chinese tech giant Baidu.

The move reinforces the UK‘s role as Europe’s leading testbed for commercialising robotaxis, fuelled by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 which provides a legal framework for driverless car ‌liability.

It also sets the scene for the competing trials between US and Chinese autonomous giants for the first time in a European capital, following Alphabet-owned Waymo’s recent start of supervised tests in ‍London.

David Risher, Lyft’s boss, revealed the company’s trials would use Apollo Go RT6 vehicles that are “purpose-built for rideshare”.

“We expect to start testing our initial fleet with dozens of vehicles next year – pending regulatory approval,” Risher said.

The company “plans to scale to hundreds from there,” he added.

Baidu is racing against rivals like Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, whose cars have already been seen on London’s streets.

Fully autonomous UK trials are contingent on the government finalising driverless car regulations and giving companies the go-ahead to operate.

London-based start-up Wayve is also preparing ​to launch driverless trials in 2026, using investment of about $1bn (£750m) led by SoftBank Group and Uber, as it tests its “mapless” AI technology on ‍London’s complex streets.

Read More: New Uber-backed driverless taxis to hit UK streets in 2026