- Search giant Baidu, Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) plans to deploy cars without humans behind the wheel on Chinese roads for the first time, Bloomberg reports.
- Baidu looks to expand Apollo Go into 65 cities across China by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030.
- The ride-hailing platform currently has about 300 cars nationwide, with each vehicle can generate 18 orders per day in big cities like Shanghai.
- The robotaxi service may become profitable in some regions in three years, Bloomberg writes.
- China allowed Baidu and AI driving startup Pony.ai Inc to dispatch autonomous cars with safety personnel only in the passenger seat. They are yet to win approval to charge for those pickups.
- The move marked Baidu's transition into AI and self-driving after its core advertising revenue shrank in the mobile era.
- Baidu invested heavily to commercialize artificial intelligence technology and autonomous driving.
- The approval covers just part of Beijing for now.
- Price Action: BIDU shares are trading higher by 1.65% at $120.48 on the last check Thursday.
- Photo via Wikimedia Commons
