Baidu’s self-driving taxis are popping up all across China’s megacities

Baidu recently launched its Apollo Go self-driving cab programme in Shanghai. — AFP Relaxnews

The battle is on between Alphabet in the United States and Baidu in China in regards to the development, launch and rollout of self-driving taxicabs. Baidu recently announced the launch of a test program in five major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, where residents can take advantage of vehicles equipped with its Apollo autonomous driving system.

Chinese company Baidu has announced the beginning of public tests of its autonomous driving technology Apollo in Shanghai through a small fleet of cabs available to be used by passengers. Known as China’s answer to Google, the firm has already invested in five of the country’s major cities (Beijing, Changsha, Cangzhou, Guangzhou and now Shanghai) with the objective of being present in some 30 cities by 2024. By then, several thousand vehicles equipped with this technology should be on the road in these Chinese metropolises.