asiabits
Posts
China's robotaxis storm London

China's robotaxis storm London

Asiabits News

October 12, 2026

Uber brings Chinese self-driving taxis to London

Uber plans to bring Chinese robotaxis to London. The ride-hailing company and Chinese autonomous-driving developer Pony.ai have announced plans to test self-driving taxis in the British capital in the coming weeks. Passengers would eventually book the vehicles through the Uber app.

The partners have already introduced this model in Zagreb. They now want to extend it to other European cities. They plan to deploy over 2,000 robotaxis across Europe.

From Zagreb to London

Pony.ai already operates paid, fully driverless services in China. For its European expansion, it relies on partners to handle local fleet operations and reach customers.

In Zagreb, Pony.ai supplies the driving technology. Croatian operator Verne owns and runs the fleet. Uber has offered the rides through its app since August. At launch, a safety driver still supervised the vehicles.

Pony.ai thus avoids building its own booking service in each new market. Customers can request the vehicles through an app they already use.

The expanded partnership will include four more European cities beyond Zagreb. London is the next announced location. The companies have yet to say who will own and operate the fleet there.

Two driving technologies, one Uber app

In London, Pony.ai will encounter another company that reaches customers in the same way. Uber already works with British developer Wayve there. Since September, passengers have been able to ride in a self-driving Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Uber is opening its app to competing driving technologies. For Pony.ai, access to Uber's customers also means competition on the same platform.

Uber benefits from that arrangement: it can work with several providers and becomes less dependent on any single technology as it introduces robotaxis.

From testing to rides without a driver

Wayve's service also illustrates a hurdle Pony.ai faces in London. A trained driver still supervises every Wayve ride. Operating without a safety driver requires British regulatory approval.

Pony.ai has announced tests in London as its first step. The partners have not disclosed how many vehicles will arrive or when public service will begin.

In Zagreb, passengers can already book a taxi with Chinese driving technology through Uber. London is set to follow. The announcement does not say whether a person will still be behind the wheel.

FROM THE TEAM

Why we love Hong Kong

At Asiabits, we work with partners across Asia, Europe and the rest of the world. Hong Kong has proved an ideal base for our international business.

When does it make sense to set up a company in Hong Kong, and how do you pay suppliers in mainland China from there? Our partner WorldFirst and Get Started HK will discuss these questions in a free webinar covering company formation, the tax framework and RMB payments.

20 October | 10:00 CEST | 16:00 Hong Kong time

OUR PARTNER

Chinese humanoids meet European industry

On our company visits in China, one question keeps coming up: What work can a robot take on in a business? Humanoid Europe 2026 in Munich on 5 and 6 November will address that question. Asiabits supports the event as an affiliate partner.

Experts from Unitree, Bosch and Fraunhofer will discuss the path from prototype to industrial deployment. There will also be live demonstrations and opportunities to question developers directly. For businesses looking to deploy robots or supply components, it is a chance to meet Chinese manufacturers and European industry in one place.

Through our partner link, you can get a 15% discount code for tickets on the event website.

View the programme and unlock 15% off

INFOGRAPHIC OF THE WEEK

China's robot output has more than doubled since 2021. Around 217,000 more machines were built in 2025 than in the previous year.

Businesses planning to automate should therefore compare Chinese manufacturers with their existing suppliers. What matters is how a system performs in their own operation and what it costs over its working life. When requesting quotes, compare integration and service alongside the purchase price.

REPORT OF THE WEEK

PwC China, Intelligent Robots: The white paper expects a single humanoid robot design to fall short of covering every application over the next three to four years. Conventional robot arms and mobile robots are expected to retain their respective strengths through 2030. The report cites 542,000 new industrial robot installations worldwide in 2024 and 199,000 professional service robots. The report is available as a free PDF in English.

Our take: A business should begin its selection with the work it wants to automate and the robot design suited to it. Manufacturers and applications can be compared on site through robotics tours in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

5 STORIES YOU MISSED LAST WEEK

🇰🇷 Samsung forecasts quarterly operating profit of 107.4 trillion won: The company has issued preliminary third-quarter estimates of about 107.4 trillion won in operating profit and 195 trillion won in revenue. Full results are due at the end of October. The profit estimate represents a 782.5% increase from the same quarter last year. Demand for memory chips in AI data centers is driving the business. Memory that supplies large amounts of data directly to AI processors is particularly sought after. Computer and electronics manufacturers face stronger competition for available chips as a result.

🇨🇳 Manus raises over $500 million after the blocked Meta sale: Butterfly Effect, the parent of the AI developer founded in China, has completed a new funding round. Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led it, with Tencent and other existing investors taking part. The company is independent again after Chinese authorities required its sale to Meta to be reversed. Headquartered in Singapore, Manus develops AI assistants that handle multi-step tasks such as research and website building. It did not publish a new valuation. The fresh capital supports its next phase as an independent provider.

🇰🇷 Doosan begins two robotics projects worth 98.9 billion won: The South Korean manufacturer has been selected for two government-backed development programs. About 68.1 billion won of the combined budget comes from the government. One project puts AI computation inside the robot, enabling perception and control without an external computer or cloud. Doosan plans models with payloads of 5, 10 and 20 kilograms, plus a mobile robot with two arms. The other program develops automated welding for demanding applications, including nuclear-power equipment. Standard products from the first project are targeted from 2031.

💻 TSMC increases September revenue by 54.6%: The contract chipmaker generated NT$511.86 billion last month. That was 0.6% below August but substantially higher than a year earlier. Revenue for the first nine months reached NT$3.90 trillion, up 41.1% from the same period last year. TSMC manufactures processors for customers including Nvidia and Apple. Demand for AI chips is keeping its factories busy. The monthly disclosure contains no profit figures; those will follow with the full quarterly results.

🇮🇩 Indosat opens an AI platform targeting an initial 50 organizations: The Indonesian telecom group and security provider F5 have launched the Intelligence Suite. Businesses can access different AI models through one interface and monitor usage and costs together. Indosat is initially targeting 50 companies and organizations. The public catalog lists more than 100 models, with more announced. Locally hosted services are designed to process data in Indonesia, while policies determine which requests can go to international providers. Businesses can reduce the work of connecting to each AI provider separately.

ALSO LAST WEEK

🇨🇳 Plug and Play's parent is fined $200,000 over a China investment: The US Treasury has disclosed its first penalty under the outbound investment program. Amidi failed to report an investment of about $92,478 in a Chinese AI and robotics company; the penalty imposed in July has now been made public.

🇸🇬 UOB and AWS explore AI banking across five ASEAN markets: The bank and Amazon Web Services plan to examine a dedicated cloud environment in Singapore. The agreement covers five Southeast Asian markets, with shared data controls and AI for customer services; a full rollout has yet to be agreed.

🇸🇬 Meta donates 1,000 AI glasses to four organizations: The Singapore recipients support people with disabilities or provide accessible visitor experiences. Meta is also providing $30,000 for training so that people with visual impairments can use the glasses for tasks such as reading text aloud and identifying objects.