The “Google of China,” Baidu, and U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft announced on Aug. 4 that they have reached a deal to deploy self-driving taxis in Europe next year.
The plan, which is still pending regulatory approval, is to use Baidu’s electric RT6 robotaxis to operate on Lyft’s platform. The service will first launch in the UK and Germany.
The two companies aim to deploy thousands of China-made vehicles across Europe in the coming years. Lyft has access to operations in nine countries and more than 180 cities in Europe, after its recent acquisition of European mobility app FreeNow.
The deal with Lyft comes just weeks after Baidu signed a similar agreement with Uber. On July 15, the owners of China’s largest search engine and Uber reached a deal to deploy Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles across Uber’s multiple global markets outside of the United States and mainland China, where Uber cannot operate after it agreed to hand over some of its intellectual property to China-based rival DiDi….
China’s Baidu to Deploy Its Self-Driving Taxis Globally Through Deals With Lyft, Uber
