Alphabet's autonomous driving division Waymo, Japanese ride-hailing firm GO Inc, and taxi operator Nihon Kotsu announced on Tuesday their intention to introduce Japan's inaugural fully driverless commercial taxi offering in Tokyo during 2027.

The partners stated they intend to start with a modest vehicle fleet, then scale up to roughly 100 cars covering key districts of the capital once regulatory clearance is secured and comprehensive validation of Waymo's technology and operational framework is finished.

Per the firms' joint announcement, the service will be entirely autonomous, with bookings facilitated via both the GO and Waymo mobile applications following approval and successful completion of all evaluations.

"This will be a driverless public service right from launch day," said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, addressing journalists during a joint press conference in Tokyo.

"Our approach is to expand the fleet responsibly and operate with consistency until anyone in Tokyo can access the service through the app," she added.

This news signifies the next phase of Waymo's expansion into Japan, following the company's commencement of data gathering in Tokyo during 2025 using human-operated Jaguar I-PACE cars, representing its first road operations outside the United States.

According to the companies, the initiative will support Japan in tackling its driver shortage concerns and the broader demographic decline affecting the nation.

In separate developments, Japanese automaker Nissan has partnered with UK-based startup Wayve and with Uber on robotaxi projects.