Baidu eyes Hong Kong, overseas for self-driving cars as Tesla gears up for robotaxi launch

Baidu’s Apollo Go completed about 899,000 rides in the three months to June this year, a year-on-year increase of 26 per cent

Reading Time:2 minutes

The photo taken on August 1, 2024 shows a screen inside a driverless robotaxi operated by Baidu in Wuhan. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:01pm, 10 Oct 2024

Baidu is reportedly eyeing the launch of its robotaxi service outside mainland China, including in Hong Kong, as Chinese autonomous driving firms move to gain a foothold in the global market ahead of Tesla’s own robotaxi launch.

Baidu’s Apollo Go plans to roll out its driverless taxi service in Hong Kong, Chinese media outlets reported on Wednesday, following reports from The Wall Street Journal and Nikkei Asia that said the company was looking to launch Apollo Go in several markets outside the mainland.

Apollo Go is set to release its autonomous driving open platform Apollo 10.0 that is “designed for a global audience”, a company spokeswoman said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Thursday. Without elaborating, she said: “We strive to provide more users with safe and comfortable travel services.”

The Beijing-based search and artificial intelligence giant’s reported plans for global expansion come as competition to roll out autonomous vehicles heats up, despite rising geopolitical tensions that have seen some Chinese players scale back test driving in the US market.

A driverless robotaxi developed as part of Baidu’s Apollo Go self-driving project, in Wuhan, Hubei province. Photo: AFP

In August, Chinese self-driving start-up WeRide received approval to test its driverless vehicles with passengers in California, while Toyota-backed Chinese firm Pony.ai has moved into markets that include Singapore, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

US electric vehicle giant Tesla is also set to unveil its highly anticipated Cybercab robotaxi service this week after a two-month delay.