Nuro is testing its autonomous vehicle tech on Tokyo’s streets

Nuro, a self-driving vehicle startup backed by investors including Uber and Softbank, has begun testing its autonomous vehicle technology on public roads in Tokyo, marking its first overseas expansion. The tests involve Toyota Prius cars equipped with Nuro’s AI-driven self-driving software, with human safety operators present as backups. Operating in Japan presents unique challenges such as driving on the left side, dense traffic, and different road signage and lane markings. Nuro opened offices in Tokyo in August prior to testing but has not disclosed the size of its test fleet or timeline for removing human operators. The company views this as the start of broader global deployment. Founded in 2016 by former Google self-driving engineers, Nuro initially focused on low-speed delivery robots but shifted in 2024 to licensing its autonomous driving technology to automakers and mobility providers. Its autonomy system is built on an end-to-end AI foundation model enabling “zero-shot autonomous driving,” meaning it can navigate Tokyo’s roads without prior training on local driving data