Robotaxis in Beijing: China’s Baidu wins approval to offer driverless-cab service in Yizhuang Economic Development Zone
- Baidu’s Apollo Go service will operate 10 fully autonomous cabs in a 60-square-kilometre area of the city
- The service already operates driverless taxis in Wuhan and Chongqing
A fleet of driverless taxis will carry passengers in China’s capital Beijing after search-engine and artificial-intelligence firm Baidu received approval to deploy 10 autonomous vehicles in a 60-square-kilometre economic development zone.
“Baidu’s success in obtaining government permits to operate fully driverless services across multiple cities in China is rooted in the company’s decade-long technical exploration in autonomous driving,” the company said on Friday.
In August 2022, Baidu received the green light to launch so-called robotaxi services in the cities of Wuhan and Chongqing, marking the first time that fully driverless cars took to mainland Chinese roads.
“Chinese authorities are increasingly confident in the autonomous-driving technologies developed by domestic tech firms,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “Operation of driverless taxis in Beijing will be a big test for the safety and viability of the technologies, and the robotaxi service will be expanded fast across the country if the trial run in Beijing proves to be a success.”
Baidu did not say when the driverless taxis will be available. The 10 self-driving cabs will be deployed in southeastern Beijing’s Yizhuang Economic Development Zone.