Chinese language tech firm Baidu introduced Wednesday its Apollo Go robotaxi arm has entered a strategic partnership with PostBus in Switzerland.
Baidu
BEIJING — Chinese language tech large Baidu introduced Wednesday that its robotaxi unit will begin take a look at drives in Switzerland in December, as companies race to get their automobiles on European roads.
The corporate’s Apollo Go unit will work with Swiss public transit operator PostBus via a strategic partnership, Baidu mentioned.
By the primary quarter of 2027, the businesses purpose to start working a public-facing totally driverless taxi service known as “AmiGo” that makes use of Apollo Go’s RT6 electrical automobiles, the press launch mentioned. Baidu added that when the robotaxis are up and operating, the operators plan to take away the vehicles’ steering wheels.
Plans to start out assessments in December are probably the most concrete steps Baidu has introduced to this point in getting its robotaxis on public roads in Europe.
The Chinese language tech firm mentioned in August that it could companion with U.S. ride-hailing firm Lyft to deploy robotaxis in the U.K. and Germany beginning in 2026. A month earlier, Baidu introduced a partnership with Uber to deploy Apollo Go robotaxis on the ride-hailing platform exterior the U.S. and mainland China later within the yr.
Different robotaxi corporations are additionally racing to increase into Europe and the Middle East, after increase operations within the U.S. and China.
On Friday, Chinese language robotaxi operator Pony.ai introduced it’s going to work with Stellantis to begin tests in Luxembourg within the coming months, earlier than increasing to different European cities subsequent yr.
U.S. rival Waymo, owned by Google dad or mum Alphabet, final week additionally introduced plans to start tests in London earlier than launching the self-driving taxi service there subsequent yr. Uber in June mentioned it could begin trials in spring 2026 of totally autonomous rides within the U.Okay. with SoftBank-backed self-driving tech startup Wayve.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
