Baidu teams up with Uber, Lyft for London robotaxi launch in first half of 2026

Chinese tech giant Baidu is teaming up with US ride-hailing platforms Uber and Lyft to roll out robotaxi trials in London next year, highlighting the accelerated push among Chinese autonomous driving firms to expand globally.

Baidu and Uber said they would begin pilot runs of robotaxi services in the British capital starting from the first half of next year, according to their respective social media announcements on Monday.

In a separate post published on X the same day, Lyft chief executive David Risher said the company would partner with Baidu to deploy a fleet of driverless vehicles in London after receiving regulatory approval.

“Riders across the city will be the first in the region to experience Baidu’s Apollo Go vehicles,” Risher wrote in his post.

The Lyft robotaxi fleet will use Baidu’s fully electric Apollo Go RT6, which has been purpose-built for ride-sharing. The service would start with dozens of vehicles and scale up to hundreds, according to Risher.

Baidu’s Hong Kong-listed share gained 1.26 per cent on Monday, closing at HK$120.30.