Uber's planned late-2026 robotaxi pilot in Tokyo has gained new prominence after CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted Japan as a key market for the company and said he was excited about Uber's next step in global autonomous driving. Uber Japan has signed an operating partnership with Hinomaru Kotsu for the Tokyo metropolitan area, with Hinomaru Kotsu acting as the licensed taxi operator and handling fleet operations, depot work, maintenance, inspections, cleaning, charging and utilization monitoring, while Uber provides the ride-hailing app and operational support tools. The project is structured to comply with Japanese rules requiring robotaxi services to be run by licensed passenger transport providers, and it will begin with safety drivers onboard before moving in stages toward fully driverless operations. The pilot builds on a March 12, 2026 memorandum among Uber Technologies, Wayve Technologies and Nissan Motor and will use Nissan Leaf electric vehicles equipped with Wayve's AI Driver autonomous driving system. Khosrowshahi's comments come as Uber pushes broader autonomy efforts, including a goal of launching autonomous ride-hailing operations in 15 cities by year-end, while its relationship with Waymo faces reported strains over future market access and operating control.