China’s Baidu says it’s running 250,000 robotaxi rides a week — same as Alphabet’s Waymo

Chinese tech giant Baidu made headlines on Monday with its announcement that it has started selling robotaxi rides without any human staff in the vehicles. This move marks a significant milestone for the company as it continues to expand its robotaxi operations globally.

According to a spokesperson for Baidu’s driverless car unit Apollo Go, the company has surpassed 250,000 weekly fully driverless rides as of October 31. This figure puts Baidu on par with Waymo, another major player in the autonomous driving space, which reported similar numbers for its U.S. operations earlier this year. Waymo, backed by Alphabet, primarily operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, partnering with Uber in Austin and Atlanta.

The competition between Chinese and U.S. companies in the advanced technology sector, particularly in areas like artificial intelligence, electric cars, and autonomous driving, has been heating up in recent years. Baidu’s rapid expansion of its robotaxi capabilities reflects its commitment to staying ahead in this competitive landscape.

Apollo Go has been operating at the 250,000 weekly rides mark for some time, with an average of about 169,000 rides per week in the quarter ended June 30. The company’s robotaxis are currently operational in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China, as well as in Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Switzerland.

To date, Apollo Go has received 17 million robotaxi ride orders and its cars have traveled 240 million kilometers, with 140 million of those kilometers being fully driverless rides. The company has maintained a strong safety record, with one airbag deployment incident for every 10.1 million kilometers driven and no major accidents resulting in human injury or death.

Baidu is gearing up to release its quarterly financial results on November 18, followed by its annual tech conference in Beijing on November 13. While weekly robotaxi figures from competitors Pony.ai and WeRide were not immediately available, Waymo did not respond to requests for updated figures.

Overall, Baidu’s progress in the autonomous driving space highlights the company’s leadership in cutting-edge technology and its commitment to revolutionizing the future of transportation. With continued expansion and innovation, Baidu is poised to shape the future of mobility on a global scale.