Blogger’s Note: Having surveyed how the political left, right, and centre of UK media has covered the story of computerised taxis operating on the streets of London – it is obvious that a false paradigm is in operation. This is an example of how the the bourgeois media presents one fact supported by two lies (the fabled “triad of deception”). The right-wing and centrist media (the so-called “mainstream” media) – is falsely presenting ths story as the London streets being taken over by deceptive Chinese technology. This feeds into the false narrative that everything “Communist” Chinese is “evil” and “corrupt” – whereas “capitalist” Taiwan could be driving people into the sea and killing them on a daily basis – and the same media would celebrate “Free Taiwanese Swimming Lessons!” If the US controls the central bank of a country – then a genocidal regime would receive a favoured status (with its leaders drinking coffee with Trump in the White House). In fact, London already has “driverless” taxis – run not by China – but by America’s “Google” (a San Francisco-based business). Even with the above article – it is two “German firms (Uber and Lyft) that want to expand driverless taxis in London to a far greater degree – and have requested assistance from China. China already possesses driverless taxis – but there is a catch. These so-called “driverless” taxis actually possess a “Safety Driver” who sits in the cab alongside the paying customers – ensuring the computer system runs smoothly. This driver takes over the “driving” of the taxis should the technology fail. Taxis with no drivers whatsoever are still around 20-years away. The technology is bound to fail and the Western media appears to be laying the foundation whereby “China” can be blamed for any tragedies that are yet to happen. Of course, it is all anti-worker – as all progression is within a capitalist society – as bus, train, tube, and taxi-drivers can be sacked and their unions dissolved. ACW (23.12.2025)

Robotaxis are coming to London in 2026 after Uber, Lyft and Baidu team up

Noora Mykkanen – Published December 22, 2025

London is gearing up to welcome self-driving taxis next year, with another big-name partnership announced today set to give customers more choice.

Whether you love it or hate it, robot technology is changing the way we travel – from public transport like driverless trains and AI security cameras on stations to autonomous taxis making their way to the cramped streets of London.

Now, ride-hailing app firms Uber and Lyft have announced a partnership with Chinese tech giant Baidu to bring their electric robot taxis to the capital from next year.

Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, which operates in San Francisco, has already started testing autonomous taxis in London.

Saber Fallah, a professor of safe AI and autonomy at the University of Surrey, told Metro that the new taxis are likely to be required to have a safety driver inside because of London’s complex road layout, making them autonomous vehicles but not fully driverless.

‘I’m pretty sure they are not going to be fully driverless. The recommendation is going to include a safety driver in the car, so it is not fully driverless,’ he said, adding that the goal of self-driving taxis is to ‘make more profit for the company by not paying drivers and not having to share their profits with the drivers.’

The aim of the trials is for companies like Baidu to gather data from London as the cars have been developed for cities in China with several differences like driving on the right.

Prof Fallah said: ‘The most important thing they are looking for with the tests is data, not technology.’

When asked how safe the data – like faces – will be if overseas companies have access to it, he said he believes it will be fine as long as ‘the government approves it and they have comply with UK regulations in terms of privacy and data collection.’

‘It will be the responsibility of the government to make sure there is no risk to the data collection,’ he said.

Commenting on the road safety of self-driving vehicles in general, the prof said that as long as a human is involved ‘I don’t see any risk as long as the safety driver is occupied by something else.’

The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: ‘Another vote of confidence in our plans for self-driving vehicles from global leader Lyft. We’re planning for self-driving cars to carry passengers for the first time from Spring, under our pilot scheme – harnessing this technology safely and responsibly to transform travel.’

Lyft’s CEO, David Risher, said: ‘It’s official: Lyft and Baidu are bringing AVs to London

‘Riders across the city will be the first in the region to experience Baidu’s Apollo Go vehicles. We expect to start testing our initial fleet with dozens of vehicles next year – pending regulatory approval – through the Lyft and Freenow ecosystem, with plans to scale to hundreds from there.’

Which European countries have robot taxis?

Robotaxi trials are also in the cards for cities in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, with Chinese firms offering robot car technology on the driver’s seat.

Switzerland’s public transport operator PostBus is also in cahoots with Baidu, with driverless trials due to begin this month across its three eastern cantons, including St Gallen.

Uber is thought to be pairing up with another Chinese tech firm, Momenta, to begin driverless taxi trials in Munich.

Meanwhile, the Chinese robotaxi firm Pony.ai said in October it is working with Stellantis to kick off its own tests in Luxembourg, one of the continent’s smallest countries.