Chinese tech company Baidu announced Monday that it may sell some robotaxi rides without human staff in the vehicles.
Baidu
BEIJING – Chinese technology company Baidu said Monday it has become the first robotaxi operator in China to obtain permits to sell rides without a human driver or staff member inside the vehicles.
Local government approvals allow Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxi business to eliminate the cost of human staff in some cases.
The initial scale of the permits is small: 10 robotaxis divided between two suburban areas of Wuhan and Chongqing, two large Chinese cities.
In April, Baidu and rival robotaxis operator Pony.ai received approval from a suburban district in Beijing to operate robotaxis without human drivers. But the Chinese capital still requires human staff to sit in the robotaxi with passengers.
Municipal authorities across China have issued a growing number of permits over the past year allowing robotaxi companies to operate and charge fees in select areas.
In the United States, Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors subsidiary Cruise can already operate public robotaxis without human personnel in the vehicles. Laws for testing robotaxis and charging pilots vary by city and state.
Baidu claimed to have received more than one million orders for robotaxi rides. In the first three months of the year, the company said it operated 196,000 trips. Baidu will release second quarter results on August 30.