The global autonomous driving war has been fully upgraded! Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), teamed up with leading Japanese players to grab stalls in Tokyo

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as the US market leader continues to advance global expansion, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), plans to bring its autonomous taxis to Japan next year.

Waymo said on Tuesday that it will partner with Japanese taxi company Go Inc. and Nippon Kotsu Co., Ltd. to launch a fully autonomous driving service in Tokyo in 2027. The two companies expect to start with a small fleet and then gradually expand to 100 vehicles.

Go shares, which operate Japan's largest taxi hailing app, rose 9.7% on Tuesday. The stock has accumulated a cumulative increase of more than 40% since its initial public offering in June.

Waymo is rapidly expanding in the US and is now setting its sights on overseas markets — the company is also preparing autonomous driving services in London. Waymo has been testing in Tokyo for the past year, and its autonomous driving service will be the first on public roads in Japan.

Waymo said in a blog post that autonomous taxis will “complement Tokyo's world-renowned transportation network while helping Japan cope with an aging population and mitigate future labor shortages.” Passengers can request a ride through the Go and Waymo apps.

In Japan, autonomous driving has long been viewed as a nightmare — the streets are cramped and crowded, and regulations are notoriously strict. However, in the past few months, various companies have begun to push the situation to open up.

Earlier this year, American autonomous driving startup Nuro Inc. began testing in Tokyo, its first overseas location after partnering with Uber and Lucid Group Inc. Nuro is supported by companies such as Nvidia and Toyota to compete with Waymo and Amazon's Zoox.

Waymo said its Japanese service still needs to obtain the necessary permits and licenses. Japan's current regulations require that no matter how automated a vehicle is, there must be a person in the driver's seat.