US self-driving startup Nuro, backed by NVIDIA, Toyota, and Uber, has begun testing autonomous vehicles on Tokyo's challenging streets, according to Bloomberg. The company, which plans to launch a robotaxi service with Uber and Lucid in San Francisco this year, will test a "handful" of vehicles with human safety drivers as required by Japanese law.

Tokyo's narrow, crowded streets and left-side driving present a significant challenge for autonomous vehicles. "Testing the capability of the autonomy system in such an interesting market with some international complexity really is a good pressure test of what the system is capable of," said CEO Andrew Chapin. Nuro aims to achieve Level 4 autonomy, allowing full self-driving under limited conditions.

Waymo is also testing vehicles in Tokyo in collaboration with Japanese taxi operators Nihon Kotsu and Go. Uber plans to deploy up to 100,000 autonomous vehicles including 20,000 robotaxis powered by Lucid and Nuro, with a rollout starting in 2027. The company recently unveiled its new vehicle design at CES 2026 and is collaborating with Nissan and Wayve to introduce pilot cars in Tokyo by late 2026.