Chinese internet giant Baidu announced on Tuesday a multi-year partnership with US ride-hailing company Uber to roll out Apollo Go driverless taxis in Asia and the Middle East starting this year.
In a joint statement, the companies said “thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles” will be deployed on the Uber platform across multiple global markets.
The first driverless vehicles are expected to hit the roads this year, although specific countries were not disclosed. Uber users in these regions may soon have the option to ride in a fully autonomous Apollo Go vehicle after making a booking.
China’s tech firms and automakers have poured billions into autonomous driving, with intelligent driving emerging as a key battleground in the domestic car market. In China, driverless taxis are already operating on a limited scale in cities like Wuhan, where more than 500 robotaxis serve designated areas.
In March, Baidu signed an agreement to launch autonomous driving tests and services in Dubai, marking Apollo Go’s first international fleet deployment. According to sources, Baidu also plans to test self-driving taxis in Europe and Turkey by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, San Francisco–based Uber announced in June that it will launch self-driving taxi services in London next year as part of the UK’s new trials for driverless services.
