Baidu wins approval for China’s first full driverless taxis

A car of Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service platform Apollo Go drives on a street in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. The tech giant has secured permits to operate robotaxis in Wuhan and Chongqing, it said in a statement on Aug 8. — Reuters

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 on Aug 8. 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.