Wayve + Nissan show robotaxi prototype
Wayve and Nissan displayed a Nissan LEAF‑based robotaxi prototype for a Tokyo pilot, built on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion with an end‑to‑end embodied AI stack and full redundancy — the car is slated for Uber trials announced. The demo signals continued commercial pilots that tie vehicle OEM hardware to third‑party embodied AI providers.
Wayve, Uber and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding on March 12, 2026 to collaborate on robotaxis and begin preparations for a Tokyo pilot slated for late 2026 announced). The Nissan LEAF–based prototype was exhibited at NVIDIA GTC 2026 on March 16, 2026 as the vehicle platform to be refined for those Tokyo trials exhibited). The vehicle’s compute stack uses dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor processors running NVIDIA DriveOS with NVIDIA Halos for functional safety, a configuration the companies say targets Level 4 autonomy specs). The prototype’s sensor suite includes high‑resolution cameras for 360° coverage, high‑performance surround and forward imaging radar, plus a forward‑facing LiDAR arranged for sensing redundancy and long‑range data collection sensors). Wayve describes its on‑board software as the “Wayve AI Driver,” an end‑to‑end embodied AI approach that intentionally does not rely on HD maps and instead learns how traffic situations evolve in real time Wayve AI Driver). Uber plans to make the vehicles bookable via the Uber app, will run the Tokyo program through a licensed taxi operator, and expects an initial public phase with trained safety drivers before scaling—part of a broader rollout targeting more than 10 cities, including London deployment plan). Wayve’s ability to move from pilot to scale is backed by recent capital and commercial momentum: the company closed a $1.2 billion funding round earlier in 2026 and is coordinating multiple partnerships, including vehicle integrations that Nissan expects to put into production programs around 2027 funding and partnerships).
