Baidu, a leading Chinese multinational tech giant, has previously been featured on the Ridesharing Forum site, particularly its partnerships with Lyft for European rides, and Uber on global robotaxi deals.
Whether this newest partnership of Baidu with these two ridesharing apps is part of the ongoing clauses of those previous partnerships, or not, it is something to look forward to.
Baidu today announced its newest collaborations with Lyft and Uber to start testing robotaxis, but this time in the United Kingdom.
Newest collaboration
Let’s start with Lyft. Its CEO, David Risher, announced on X, formerly Twitter, that Lyft and Baidu will introduce self-driving vehicles to London, in particular, making Londoners among the first in the region to experience the self-driving cars of Apollo Go by Baidu.
Baidu is known as “the Google of China,” as it is known for its dominant Internet search engine in the country. It also has works in AI, cloud computing, maps, smart devices, and autonomous driving. Apollo Go is its autonomous driving division.
This Chinese company is touted as the world’s biggest autonomous vehicle operator, having completed more than 17 million shared rides across 22 global cities. Furthermore, it has garnered more than 240 million kilometers of autonomous driving with over 140 million kilometers driven in fully driverless routes.
The two companies are expecting to start testing the first few dozen autonomous cars via the Lyft and Freenow ecosystems next year, with roadmaps to scale up gradually to hundreds, in the future. This testing will reportedly utilize the all-electric RT6 model, designed specifically for ridesharing.
As for Uber, they are also in collaboration with Apollo Go by Baidu for a pilot program for autonomous cars in the British capital, with testing expected to start during the first half of 2026.
“We’re excited to accelerate Britain’s leadership in the future of mobility, bringing another safe and reliable travel option to Londoners next year,” Uber’s statement goes like this.
The British government’s take
In various instances, governments around the globe are hostile when it comes to ridesharing apps. But this time, they seem to be letting down their guard.
According to CNBC, the United Kingdom has witnessed a surge in interest in driverless taxi operators, following the government’s June announcement that it would accelerate its plans to allow autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads.
For example, the city of London has its “Vision Zero” goal, eliminating every serious injury and death in its transportation system, but this is coming to full fruition or scale by 2041. However, autonomous driving tech will play a role.
Also, the country’s government is aiming to start allowing robotaxis to operate in small-scale pilots starting in spring of 2026. Baidu is first to be considered.