Alex Toshev joins Wayve to lead robotics as London licences, robotaxi and OEM deals land
Wayve's flurry of 2026 announcements culminates in an AI robotics hire, London licences for Uber rides, and a $60M investment from chip giants.
- $60 million
- late 2026
- later this summer
What Happened
Wayve Technologies has closed out a productive run of 2026 announcements by hiring Alex Toshev to lead a new general robotics team at Wayve Labs. The team will build a foundation intelligence layer for physical systems beyond self-driving, extending the company's AI Driver technology. The latest press release, dated 18 August 2026, follows earlier news covering London ride-hailing licences, a Tokyo robotaxi pilot, OEM partnerships, and a fresh investment round.
Wayve, Uber and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on robotaxi deployment, targeting a pilot in Tokyo by late 2026 using the Nissan LEAF, powered by the Wayve AI Driver and available through Uber.
Wayve and Nissan exhibited a global robotaxi prototype built on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion at NVIDIA GTC 2026, previewing the platform planned for the Uber pilot trials in Tokyo.
Wayve secured a $60 million investment from AMD, Arm and Qualcomm, extending its Series D round to accelerate global deployment of the Wayve AI Driver across diverse automotive compute platforms for ADAS and automated driving.
Wayve signed a partnership with the UK Government to accelerate Britain's self-driving future, as it prepares to launch passenger service trials and works with global OEMs.
Wayve and Stellantis announced a strategic technology partnership, with Stellantis planning to integrate the Wayve AI Driver into the STLA AutoDrive platform for hands-free door-to-door supervised automated driving at scale.
Transport for London granted Private Hire Vehicle licences to Wayve's autonomous vehicles, with early rider access planned later this summer.
Alex Toshev joined Wayve Labs to lead a new general robotics team building a foundation intelligence layer for physical systems beyond self-driving.
The TfL licences bring autonomous rides a step closer in London, with early rider access planned for later this summer. The Stellantis partnership, announced 21 May, will integrate the Wayve AI Driver into the STLA AutoDrive platform. Wayve also signed a partnership with the UK Government on 12 May to accelerate Britain's self-driving future, preparing for passenger service trials while working with global OEMs. The 15 April investment of $60 million from AMD, Arm, and Qualcomm extends Wayve's Series D round and speeds deployment of the AI Driver across automotive compute platforms for ADAS and automated driving.
The robotaxi collaboration with Uber and Nissan began with a 12 March memorandum of understanding targeting a pilot deployment in Tokyo by late 2026 using the Nissan LEAF, powered by the Wayve AI Driver and available to riders through Uber. On 16 March, Wayve and Nissan exhibited a global robotaxi prototype built on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion at NVIDIA GTC 2026, previewing the vehicle platform for those trials. Together, these milestones show Wayve building a network of automaker, chipmaker, and regulatory partnerships to bring automated driving to market.
Previously from Wayve Technologies Ltd.
Earlier MotorClaw coverage reported that Stellantis planned to integrate Wayve's AI Driver into STLA AutoDrive for hands-free Level 2++ driving by 2028, and that Stellantis, Wayve and Uber had partnered to scale Level 4 robotaxis globally. Wayve also hired 3D vision pioneer Andrea Tagliasacchi to advance embodied AI for autonomy. These prior moves show Wayve steadily expanding from assisted driving to full automation and AI research.
- Stellantis and Wayve Partner to Bring Hands-Free Door-to-Door Supervised Automated Driving by 2028
- Stellantis, Wayve, and Uber Partner to Scale Robotaxis Globally
- 3D Vision Pioneer Andrea Tagliasacchi joins Wayve Labs as Principal Scientist
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Wayve Technologies Ltd.'s official releases.
Why this matters
Wayve's announcements signal that autonomous driving is leaving the lab: Uber riders may get driverless trips in London later this summer, a Tokyo robotaxi pilot is targeted for late 2026, and Stellantis plans to integrate Wayve's AI Driver into its vehicles. The $60 million investment from AMD, Arm, and Qualcomm adds credibility and compute-platform support, while the UK government partnership could shape self-driving deployment in Britain.
Terms in This Story
- Robotaxi
- A self-driving taxi that can be hailed without a human driver.
- Private Hire Vehicle licence
- A London licence allowing a vehicle to be pre-booked for passenger trips, typically through an app such as Uber.
- ADAS
- Advanced driver-assistance systems; technologies that assist the driver, such as lane-keeping or automatic braking.
- Memorandum of understanding (MoU)
- A non-binding agreement between parties outlining an intended common course of action.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.