Baidu’s robotaxi service surpasses 11 million rides since launch

By Phong Ngo May 21, 2025 | 08:27 pm PT

Chinese tech giant Baidu announced that its autonomous ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, has completed over 11 million trips since its debut in 2019, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Beijing-based company said Apollo Go provided 1.4 million rides globally in the first quarter of 2025, up 75% year-on-year.

With over 1,000 fully driverless vehicles deployed across 15 cities, "we aim to replicate and further optimise our proven approach" in robotaxi operations, CEO Robin Li Yanhong said. "We will deepen our presence in existing markets while strategically entering new ones."

The company reported 32 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) in revenue for the three months ending in March, up 3% over the same period last year, and beating the 31 billion yuan forecast by analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Quarterly profit jumped 42% to 7.7 billion yuan, defying expectations of a 27% decline to 4 billion yuan.

Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, Apollo Go. Photo courtesy of Baidu

Baidu’s robotaxi service Apollo Go. Photo courtesy of Baidu

Founded in 2017, Baidu’s Apollo platform is the world’s largest open-source autonomous driving initiatives. It powers Apollo Go, the robotaxi service rolled out in China two years later. Users can book rides through Baidu Maps, with fares starting at 4 yuan for a 10-kilometer trip, roughly one-tenth the price of a conventional taxi.

Beyond mainland China, Baidu is testing its autonomous vehicles in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, and is preparing to expand the service to Switzerland and Turkey, according to The Wall Street Journal.