INTERNET giant Baidu and Lyft, one of North America’s and Europe’s largest transportation networks, have announced a strategic partnership for Lyft to deploy Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles (AVs) across key European markets via the Lyft platform. Initial deployments are planned for Germany and the United Kingdom in 2026, pending regulatory approval. The fleet is expected to scale to thousands of vehicles across Europe in the following years. Under the agreement, Lyft will introduce Baidu Apollo Go’s sixth-generation vehicles as its pioneering autonomous solution in the region. Baidu chairman and CEO Robin Li hailed the collaboration as a major milestone in Apollo Go’s globalization strategy. “Our partnership with Baidu is focused on creating an outstanding customer experience. Their extensive track record operating the world’s largest autonomous ride-hailing service allows us to bring all the benefits of AVs — safety, reliability, and privacy — to millions of Europeans,” said Lyft CEO David Risher. Apollo Go has been rapidly expanding its global footprint through worldwide collaborations. Earlier this year, the company launched pilot services in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. More recently, it reached a separate agreement with Uber to integrate thousands of autonomous vehicles into Uber’s global ride-hailing network. Within China, the robotaxi service provider is also growing quickly. Earlier this month, Apollo Go launched Hainan’s first full-scenario autonomous ride-hailing service in the provincial capital Haikou, with pilot routes covering major cultural and tourist landmarks. According to Apollo Go, the company has deployed over 1,000 autonomous vehicles across 15 cities worldwide, delivering more than 11 million rides. Domestic coverage includes major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies) | 