Uber’s latest robotaxi partner is China’s Baidu

Uber has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Chinese tech giant Baidu to deploy thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the Uber platform across multiple markets outside the U.S. and mainland China. Initial deployments are planned for Asia and the Middle East later in 2025. This deal is part of Uber’s broader strategy to integrate robotaxi services into its ride-hailing business, following recent partnerships with other AV providers such as Waymo, Volkswagen, May Mobility, Pony AI, and China’s WeRide, in which Uber has also made direct investments. Despite the ambitious scale of these collaborations, the integration of Baidu’s AVs into Uber’s platform will begin cautiously. Initially, riders will not be able to directly request Baidu’s autonomous vehicles; instead, they may be offered the option to have their trip fulfilled by a fully driverless Apollo Go vehicle, mirroring the approach Uber has taken with other AV partners. This reflects the early stage of deployment and the