Visiting China’s Capital City? Don’t Be Surprised If Your Taxi Has No Driver

Baidu, maker of China’s top online search engine, has secured a permit to operate a fleet of 10 robotaxis in the Chinese capital city of Beijing, making it the first company to operate autonomous vehicles in the region.

The vehicles, which go by the brand name Apollo Go, already operate in two other Chinese cities: Wuhan and Chonqing. Baidu has been conducting tests in Beijing since December 2022, Reuters reports(Opens in a new window), and now has the go-ahead for full deployment.

“This marks a major milestone worldwide as the first-ever fully driverless fleet deployed in the capital city of any country,” Baidu says(Opens in a new window). “Users can now have access to fully driverless robotaxi service in three megacities in China: Beijing, Wuhan, and Chongqing.”

Inside Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxi
(Credit: VCG / Contributor / Getty Images)

Expansion to Beijing suggests growing confidence in the technology. Over 2 million passengers have ridden in Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles as of the end of January 2023, the company says. With an average of 15 rides per day for each robotaxi, the service is roughly on par with human-driven taxis.

The vehicles will operate in a contained, 23-square-mile area in Beijing known as the Yizhuang Economic Development Zone. The government plans to expand the area to 193 square miles. “The city is also exploring pathways to operate autonomous driving vehicles [to] the city’s nearby airport, serving the wider Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,” Baidu says.

Baidu launched its autonomous driving service in 2017, according(Opens in a new window) to the South China Morning Post. Its vehicles operate with Level 4 autonomous driving, with Level 5 being the highest (see our explainer).

Level 4 vehicles are primarily used for public transportation services, like taxis, and are mostly preprogrammed to drive only within a certain area that doesn’t exceed a speed limit of around 30mph. At Level 5, the vehicle would be able to operate anywhere, at any speed, more similar to a human driver.

Baidu Apollo Go vehicle with taxi service branding, cameras and sensors up top to direct the vehicle
(Credit: VCG / Contributor / Getty Images)

Vehicles in the US currently operate at a maximum of Level 2 autonomous driving, such as Teslas equipped with the “full self-driving” software (which, as California officials points out, is not so “full” given its level.) Mercedes recently surpassed Tesla, becoming the first automaker to win permits for Level 3 autonomous driving in the US and Europe—a first for both regions.

Elon Musk has previously stated his interest in robotaxi services, which he (and Baidu) say can provide rides for significantly less than a human-driven taxi—a major business opportunity. “Looking at some of our projections, it would appear that a robotaxi ride will cost less than a bus ticket, a subsidized bus ticket or subsidized subway ticket,” Musk said last year.

But autonomous driving is a notoriously thorny AI problem due to the infinite scenarios a vehicle may encounter on the road. Self-driving Teslas have already killed multiple pedestrians in the US and caused eight-car pileups, leading to ongoing federal investigations and a recent recall of over 360,000 Teslas with the latest software update.

A big advantage for Baidu is the ability to operate its vehicles in a contained area, separate from everyday drivers, which likely greases the wheels on rapid expansion. Baidu says it “aims to build the world’s biggest fully driverless ride-hailing area in 2023, and plans to put an additional 200 fully driverless robotaxis into operation” throughout 2023.