Baidu's Robotaxis Offer Driverless Rides Across China

Baidu's Apollo Go subsidiary, which operates a robotaxi service, has been granted permission to offer robotaxi services in Beijing without a driver. This marks the expansion of fully autonomous ride-hailing services to three major cities in China. Baidu is now the first company to offer fully driverless rides to more than 21 million residents in China's capital city.

Often called the Google of China due to its popular search and mapping services, Baidu has been developing self-driving cars, similarly to Google. Recently, Baidu obtained a permit to operate 10 fully driverless vehicles in the Yizhuang Economic Development Zone in Beijing.

Baidu reports that it has been providing more than the average daily rides for traditional ride-hailing services, with 20 rides per electric vehicle in the zone. The robotaxi service currently covers an area of 60 square kilometers, but will soon expand to 500 square kilometers.

This announcement is an extension of Baidu's November mission to expand Apollo's operations in more regions of China in 2023. The goal is for the Apollo Go self-driving service to expand to 65 cities by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030.