Chinese technology company Baidu announced Monday that it can sell some robotaxi rides without human staff in the vehicles.
Baidu
BEIJING – Chinese technology company BaiduApollo Go’s robotaxi unit is in talks with several companies to expand into overseas markets in the “near future”, a source familiar with the matter said.
No details on timing or regions were available.
Baidu is one of the largest robotaxis operators in China. Regulators in parts of Beijing and cities like Wuhan – Apollo Go’s largest operating region – have allowed companies to commercially operate self-driving taxis, after years of allowing only internal testing.
Tesla is scheduled to hold its highly anticipated robotaxi event on Thursday.
WeRide, another Chinese robotaxi developer, announced a deal to integrate its cars on a riding giant Uber‘s platform in Abu Dhabi this year. The statement said the companies had no plans for similar partnerships in the US or China.
In July, BYD and Uber announced they would develop “autonomous vehicles” for the taxi company’s platform. They did not share details.
Robotaxi rides in China are operated by Baidu and companies such as Pony.ai are generally heavily subsidized by the companies to encourage their use. Local regulations sometimes require a human staffer to be in the car, meaning not all vehicles are fully autonomous.
Baidu said Apollo Go had conducted more than 7 million robotaxi rides by the end of July.
In addition, Baidu announced on Tuesday that Rong Luo would no longer serve as CFO, but would instead become executive vice president overseeing the company’s mobile ecosystem unit. Junjie He, former head of the mobile unit, will become interim CFO, the company said. Baidu described the changes as part of a “rotation of management.”