China's First Full Driverless Taxis Coming
Baidu Inc. has won approval to deploy the first fully autonomous self-driving taxis on China's roads, giving it an edge over rivals like Pony.ai Inc. and XPeng Inc.
The tech giant has secured permits to operate robotaxis in Wuhan and Chongqing, it said in a statement Monday. The move marks a relaxation of Chinese rules, which previously mandated someone must be in the vehicle to take control in case of an emergency.
Baidu will begin to provide fully driverless robotaxi services in designated areas in Wuhan between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Chongqing from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with five Apollo fifth generation robotaxis operating in each city. The service area covers 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone, and 30 square kilometers in Chongqing's Yongchuan district.
The company will work with regulators in cities like Beijing and Guangzhou to obtain similar permits, said Wei Dong, vice-president of Baidu Intelligence Driving Group.
“It's as if we've landed on the moon and built a base there,” he said in a video interview. “It's just a matter of time for us to go to Mars or even beyond our solar system. ”
In the US, Cruise LLC in June won a license to charge for fully driverless rides in selected areas in San Francisco, but the General Motors Co.-backed startup is now facing regulatory scrutiny after two on-road incidents, including an accident that left two people with minor injuries. In China, Baidu and self-driving startup Pony.ai earlier this year were greenlit by local regulators to deploy cars without someone in the driver's seat in part of Beijing.
Baidu, which operated China's largest search engine, is transitioning to artificial intelligence and
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