Baidu plans self-driving taxi tests in Europe this year

Driverless taxis, like this Apollo Robotaxi car, are already on the roads with limited capacity in China

 NOEL CELIS

Chinese tech giant Baidu plans to start testing self-driving taxis in Europe for the first time by the end of this year, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.

China's tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in recent years, with intelligent driving the new battleground in the country's cutthroat domestic car market.

Driverless taxis are already on the roads with limited capacity in China, most notably in the central city of Wuhan where a fleet of over 500 can be hailed by app in designated areas. 

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Baidu was in talks to launch its Apollo Go robotaxi service with Switzerland's PostAuto, part of Swiss Post responsible for public bus services.

A source confirmed to AFP that Baidu will set up a local entity in Switzerland in order to begin tests there before the end of 2025. 

The company will also start testing Apollo Go in Turkey, they said. 

In March Baidu announced it had signed an agreement to launch autonomous driving tests and services in Dubai, Apollo Go's first international fleet deployment.

One hundred self-driving vehicles will be on the roads there by the end of the year, the firm said in a statement. 

Baidu is not alone among Chinese companies in searching to expand its foothold abroad. 

Its rival WeRide is also active in the Gulf region, and in January announced it had been picked to lead a small pilot project in Switzerland. 

Pony.AI, another Chinese company, announced in April that it had received a permit to test robotaxis in Luxembourg. 

Last week, it said it had signed a deal to launch its self-driving taxis on the Uber platform in "a key market in the Middle East later this year".

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