Feb 10 (Reuters) – Uber and Baidu said on Tuesday they would launch autonomous ride-hailing services in Dubai next month, the latest step in the Chinese technology company’s push toward global expansion.
The fully autonomous vehicles will be available on the Uber app in select locations within the Jumeirah area, the companies said, adding that they would expand further based on operational progress and regulatory approvals across the city.
The move builds on a partnership between the companies, announced last year, aimed at deploying thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform in several international markets outside the US and mainland China.
It is also a step forward in Uber’s ambitions to compete in the robotaxi market as technology companies compete to drive commercial adoption of autonomous vehicles.
Baidu, which has been commercially operating its Apollo Go robotaxi services in several Chinese cities since 2022 and now has a global presence in 22 cities, said the service has completed more than 17 million trips as of October.
The company also has an agreement with Lyft to deploy robotaxis across Europe. ​In December, Baidu partnered with Uber and Lyft to launch trials of their driverless taxi services in the UK this year.
Baidu said Tuesday that passengers will have the option to be assigned to an Apollo Go vehicle when booking an Uber Comfort or UberX taxi, or by selecting the “Autonomous” option in the Uber app.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)