Waymo plans robotaxi launch in Munich, its first stop in Germany

Waymo said Tuesday it plans to launch a robotaxi service in Munich, months after the Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company set up an entity in Germany. The company still must work through mapping and testing, as well as clear regulatory hurdles, before it can launch commercial operations.

Waymo will begin, as it has in the 11 other cities where it runs commercial robotaxi operations, by manually driving its vehicles to map Munich’s streets. It will then test its autonomous vehicles with human safety drivers behind the wheel before removing them, a stage at which Waymo typically lets employees, media, and other invited guests ride in the driverless vehicles. The company will eventually open the robotaxis to limited service, and then to all riders once it receives the regulatory approval needed to operate commercially. Waymo said in a blog post Tuesday that it’s working with Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), state authorities, and local officials, and expects to open commercial ride-hailing to the public toward the end of 2027.

Waymo’s entry into Germany comes more than five years after the country’s lawmakers adopted legislation allowing driverless vehicles on public roads, making Germany the first country in the European Union with a legal framework for Level 4 autonomous driving — a designation meaning the self-driving system handles all driving, with no expectation of human takeover, in certain conditions. That framework has made Germany a hotspot for AV testing: several companies, including Mobileye and Volkswagen, hold permits to test autonomous vehicles there, according to the KBA’s latest data. Waymo does not currently have any permits. Most existing permit holders, including U.K. self-driving startup Wayve and Israel-based Autobrains, hold Level 3 permits, which allow a system to handle all driving within specific conditions — such as low speeds on highways — but still require a driver able to take over when needed.

Germany isn’t Waymo’s only overseas target. The U.K., especially London, is shaping up as another robotaxi battleground: Waymo has said it plans to launch a commercial service there in 2026, putting it up against Wayve and its partner Uber. Chinese tech giant Baidu has also started testing autonomous vehicles in London as part of a partnership with Lyft and Freenow.

Why it matters

Waymo’s push into Munich and London signals a race among Western robotaxi operators to lock in Europe’s most AV-friendly regulatory regimes before rivals like Wayve, Baidu, and Uber’s local partners establish a first-mover advantage.