Baidu It will bring its driverless taxis to Europe next year through a partnership with U.S. ride-hailing companies Lyftas Chinese tech giants hope to expand their self-driving cars around the world.
The robot will initially be deployed in the UK and Germany starting in 2026 with the goal of owning “thousands” of vehicles in the “next years”, the companies said.
Lyft has very little presence in Europe until it closed last week Acquisition of Germany-based cycling company Freenowmore than 150 cities are available in nine countries including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
Lyft and Baidu said in a statement Monday that the deployment of self-driving cars is “pending regulatory approval.” It is not clear whether Lyft will offer Baidu’s robots through the FreeNow app or other products.
The partnership marks Baidu’s continued push to expand its robots to international markets.
last month, Baidu cooperates with Uber Deploy its self-driving cars on ride-hailing giant platforms outside the United States and mainland China, with a focus on the Middle East and Asia.
In China, Baidu has been operating its own Robotaxi service Since 2021, in major cities such as Beijingallowing users to hail through the app Apollo Go Car.
For Lyft, the deal with Baidu could increase the point of differentiation in Europe, comparing it with competitors like Uber and Bolt, as it looks to have a foothold in the region.
Self-driving cars have become the focus of ride-hailing companies that want to work with companies that are developing technology for driverless cars.
In the UK, Lyft’s goal is Uber collaborates with autonomous vehicle technology companies this year Experiments on fully autonomous rides will be carried out starting in spring 2026.
