Lyft and China’s Baidu look to convey robotaxis to Europe subsequent yr

Lyft’s European growth will embrace Chinese language-made robotaxis.

The U.S. ride-hailing firm introduced Monday it has made a strategic partnership with Baidu to deploy the Chinese language tech big’s Apollo Go autonomous autos throughout a number of European markets. The businesses wish to launch robotaxi providers in Germany and the UK in 2026, pending regulatory approval.

If authorized, Baidu’s RT6 autos, that are geared up with its Apollo Go self-driving system, shall be built-in into Lyft’s ride-hailing app. Lyft CEO David Risher stated the robotaxi service is an instance of its “hybrid community strategy, the place AVs and human drivers work collectively to offer customer-obsessed choices for riders.”

Lyft has traditionally centered its ride-hailing enterprise on the USA, whereas rival Uber has expanded globally and into different areas, like meals supply. However earlier this yr, Lyft purchased its means into the European market when it agreed to accumulate the German multi-mobility app FREENOW from BMW and Mercedes-Benz Mobility for about $197 million in cash. 

The acquisition opened the European market to Lyft, which has solely operated within the U.S. and Canada because it launched in 2012.

Lyft and Uber, each of which sunsetted their very own inner autonomous car applications, are in a race to lock up partnerships with corporations like Baidu, which have developed the know-how.

Uber has partnered with greater than 18 corporations, overlaying the spectrum of how self-driving techniques will be utilized to the bodily world, together with ride-hailing, supply, and trucking. On this yr alone, it has introduced offers with Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Could Mobility and Volkswagen, in addition to Chinese language self-driving companies Momenta, WeRide, and Baidu. Final month, Uber invested hundreds of millions of dollars into EV maker Lucid and autonomous car know-how startup Nuro in a bid to launch its personal premium robotaxi service.

Lyft hasn’t had the identical tempo of offers as Uber, however has made a couple of partnerships previously yr, together with a plan to add autonomous shuttles made by Austrian producer Benteler Group to its community in late 2026. Lyft has additionally stated it plans to place AVs from May Mobility on its community in Atlanta later this yr.