Baidu Launches China's First 24/7 Robotaxi Service

Baidu is pulling further ahead of Tesla with the launch of China's first 24/7 robotaxi service.

Baidu, Inc., a leading AI company with strong internet foundation, proudly announced a significant operation upgrade for Apollo Go, its autonomous (L4) ride-hailing service platform. Apollo Go is now offering 24/7 autonomous, fully driverless service in selected areas of Wuhan, becoming China's first provider to offer such service. It is fully driverless with no safety operator present in the car.

This 24/7 service expansion is just one of several operational milestones Baidu has achieved in China. On Feb 27, 2024, Apollo Go launched fully driverless rides across the challenging landscape of the Yangtze River, covering both the north and south banks across the Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge and Wuhan Baishazhou Bridge. Previously, in Aug 2023, Baidu introduced driverless airport transportation services in Wuhan, establishing itself as China's pioneer in providing autonomous rides to and from airports, seamlessly connecting urban roads and highways. On Feb 23, 2024, Apollo Go unveiled a similar service in Beijing, as Baidu was approved for robotaxi pilot operation on highways to Beijing Daxing Airport.

Wuhan is one of the world's leading cities in implementing intelligent transportation. By the end of 2023, the total test mileage run by autonomous vehicles in the city has exceeded 3,378.73 kilometres, covering an area of about 3,000 square kilometres and a population of over 7.7 million. Apollo Go currently operates a total of 300 fully driverless vehicles in Wuhan.

In honour of International Women's Day, Baidu's Apollo Go has introduced a special campaign offering female users up to two orders for priority service during late-night hours (from 23:00 to 6:00 the next morning) coupled with intelligent in-car voice service. Apollo Go's user-first operation ethos has earned strong customer trust, winning an impressive 97.12% five-star reviews on the app.

Apollo Go has provided over 5 million cumulative rides as of Jan 2024. Apollo Go is the world's largest autonomous ride-hailing service provider. Today, Baidu and Apollo Go are actively working to bring fully autonomous ride hailing services to an even wider range of locations and users. Apollo Go currently offers robotaxi services in over 10 cities in China, standing out as the first company to provide fully driverless robotaxi service in cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Shenzhen, and Chongqing.

The car doesn't have a big Lidar on top. So it isn't so bad.