China’s Baidu to bring its driverless cars to Uber globally
A passenger walks near Uber signage after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on July 10, 2022.
David Swanson | Reuters
Baidu has struck a partnership with Uber to deploy its autonomous cars on the ride-hailing giant’s platform outside the U.S. and mainland China.
The first deployments are expected to happen in Asia and the Middle East later this year. The two companies said the multi-year partnership will see “thousands” of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on Uber globally.
Baidu shares jumped 4.5% in premarket trade in the U.S. following the news, while Uber stock was more than 1% higher.
For Baidu, the move will help to internationalize its driverless car business outside of China. Uber will meanwhile gain a proven partner to take on autonomous driving rivals around the world.
After the launch, a rider requesting a trip on Uber may be given the option to hail a driverless Apollo Go car, the two companies said.
In China, Baidu has been operating its own robotaxi service since 2021 in major cities like Beijing, letting users hail an Apollo Go car through the app.
But the Beijing-headquartered company has stated its ambitions to expand its operations to other international markets. This year, Baidu announced plans to begin autonomous driving testing and services in Dubai, while CNBC reported that the company is also looking to expand into Europe.
By partnering with Uber, Baidu has found a company with a widely-used app and that operates in 15,000 cities globally. Uber meanwhile has looked to partner with driverless technology companies after selling its own autonomous vehicle unit in 2020.
“As the world’s largest platform of its kind, spanning mobility, delivery, and freight, Uber is uniquely positioned to help AV leaders like Baidu bring their autonomous technology to the world,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a press release.
This year, Waymo, the driverless car company owned by Google-parent Alphabet, began offering robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas through the Uber app. In the U.K., Uber partnered with startup Wayve to launch trials of fully autonomous rides in the country.
