Uber and Lyft announced the establishment of a partnership with Baidu to begin tests of robot taxis (autonomous vehicles) in London, with the Chinese company responsible for supplying the vehicles to be used. The initiative represents another step towards electric and driverless mobility, an ambition shared by all entities involved in this program.
The plan for the implementation of autonomous taxis, or robot taxis, in London in 2026 had already been announced, but Baidu’s association, the Chinese tech giant, with Uber and Lyft’s effort represents an important development. This company will provide the RT6 from its subsidiary Apollo Go.
With this agreement, Baidu enters one of the markets that promotes electromobility the most in Europe, benefiting from the right-hand drive, which allows for the utilization of knowledge gained from its operations in Hong Kong since 2024. A competitor of the American Google, the company positions itself among the leading tech firms in China (it started as a search engine for the Internet in 2000 and later ventured into other areas, currently working on artificial intelligence). The partners plan operations in other European countries, notably Germany.
