Uber’s Latest Robotaxi Partner Is China’s Baidu

Uber has struck different woody pinch a robotaxi provider, and this clip it’s pinch Chinese tech elephantine Baidu.

The 2 companies announced Tuesday that they person agreed to a “multi-year strategical business to deploy thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles (AVs) connected nan Uber platform” successful aggregate markets extracurricular nan U.S. and mainland China. Those deployments will commencement successful Asia and nan Middle East later this year, nan companies said.

Uber has been connected a tear of AV partnerships lately arsenic it looks to protect its ride-hailing business by embracing nan emergence of robotaxis.

In nan past fewer months alone, Uber has agreed to put AVs from Waymo, Volkswagen, May Mobility, and Pony AI connected its level successful different cities astir nan world. In immoderate cases, Uber is taking nonstop stakes successful these companies. In May, Uber announced an expanded business pinch China’s WeRide that included a $100 cardinal investment. Uber is reportedly besides considering helping its laminitis Travis Kalanick finance a takeover of Pony AI.

As accelerated arsenic these partnerships person been coming, they are still successful nan very early stages. In this instance, riders initially won’t beryllium capable to petition a Baidu AV successful Uber’s app. Instead, nan companies opportunity nan rider “may beryllium presented pinch nan option” to person their travel fulfilled by a afloat driverless Apollo Go AV. This is akin to really immoderate of Uber’s different partnerships already work.