Baidu, known as the Google of China, is entering the European robo-taxi market in collaboration with the U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft. Previously, Baidu partnered with Uber, the world's largest ride-hailing service, to enter markets in Asia and the Middle East.
Baidu announced on the 5th that its autonomous taxi brand 'Luo Bo Kuai Pao' (萝卜快跑·Apollo Go) signed a strategic agreement with Lyft on the 4th (local time) to provide unmanned autonomous driving services in the European market.
Starting in 2026, the two companies plan to launch services in Germany and the UK by deploying the sixth generation of Luo Bo Kuai Pao's autonomous vehicles. They aim to significantly expand services across Europe with thousands of vehicles.
David Risher, CEO of Lyft, noted, "Baidu operates the world's largest autonomous driving mobility platform, and the experience accumulated thus far will play a significant role in delivering the core values of safety, reliability, and privacy protection in autonomous driving to millions of users in Europe."
Li Yan Hong, the founder of Baidu, said, "This collaboration is an important milestone in the globalization strategy of Luo Bo Kuai Pao," adding, "We will continue to expand autonomous driving services to users worldwide in partnership with global partners."
Previously, Luo Bo Kuai Pao has accelerated its global expansion by entering regions in the Middle East, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Recently, it signed a cooperation agreement with Uber and is pushing to connect thousands of unmanned vehicles to Uber's global network.
According to the company, Luo Bo Kuai Pao operates over 1,000 autonomous vehicles in 15 cities worldwide and has provided a cumulative 11 million services to date. The total safe driving distance has exceeded 170 million kilometers.