Ride giant Uber and Chinese self-driving car startup Momena plan to start testing robots in Munich, Germany starting in 2026, the first company in Europe’s first company announced publicly – plans to expand to other markets.
Partnership is First debuted in May 2025When Uber said the Momensa-powered vehicle will be launched on a platform in Europe in 2026, it initially boarded with human safety operators to monitor the vehicle and control it when needed.
Founded in 2016, Momma is one of the earliest self-driving car (AV) companies in China. The Beijing-based startup has been testing self-driving cars in China Since 2018 and is considered a major player in the country’s competitive AV market.
Uber’s move has put it in direct competition with other ride-hailing companies that have expanded to the European AV market. For example, in August Announced an agreement Starting next year in Germany and the UK, Baidu in China will deploy robots in Europe starting next year.
Momentum is one 20 global AV partners Uber has brought its ride, delivery and freight operations to the ship. Uber said the partnerships have generated 1.5 million liquidity and annual growth rates for delivery trips.
In the United States, Uber offers Waymo’s robots on its apps in Austin, Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Internationally, Uber has partnered with Momma and other Chinese AV startups such as Weride and Pony.ai to launch robots on the Uber platform in the Middle East. Uber and Weride currently offer AV rides in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, with plans to expand to Dubai. Uber and Wayve in the UK also recently announced plans to launch public road tests for Level 4 AV in London.
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(Level 4 autonomy means that vehicles can operate without human intervention under certain conditions.)
Uber said in a statement that it chose Munich as a European launch pad due to the city’s engineering heritage and a strong automotive ecosystem.
“Germany has shaped the global automotive industry for more than a century, and now Munich will help shape the future with self-driving cars,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
TechCrunch has contacted Uber and Momena to see if they have begun the certification process in Germany. Momenta will need to prove to German regulators that its vehicles meet certain safety standards and have an area of design operation approved by the authorities (called “geographical areas”).
The launch may be Momena’s first Robotaxi deployment in Europe. The company has been operating a service in Shanghai and plans to launch a commercial launch with in-vehicle safety operators by the end of this year. In the process of developing its 4-level features, Momma has also been deploying Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) with partner automakers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. According to the company, Momma’s ADA has been installed on 400,000 cars sold to customers today.
