On October 9, Beijing time, the Wall Street Journal reported that Baidu is seeking to launch its driverless online ride-hailing service overseas in order to expand its competitive advantage beyond mainland China. People familiar with the matter said Baidu hopes to test and deploy its "ApolloGo" self-driving taxis in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East. Baidu has been discussing plans with companies and regulators in these regions, people familiar with the matter said.
A LuoPao KuaiPao representative responded by saying that LuoPao KuaiPao plans to release a new version of Apollo 10.0 for its autonomous driving platform, which is “designed specifically for global users.”
Currently, companies in both the United States and China are seeking to deploy self-driving technology for a wider range of commercial uses, including driverless taxi services and driver-assisted systems for consumer cars. After multiple delays, Tesla Inc. will unveil its self-driving taxis this week. In addition, Tesla has previously stated that it is expected to launch its fully autonomous driving system (FSD) in China in the first quarter of next year.
Baidu and other Chinese companies have been operating driverless taxi services in several Chinese cities. Luobo Kuaipao said in August this year that it operated more than 400 driverless taxis in Wuhan, making it the company's largest driverless fleet in China. In the second quarter of this year, Baidu provided nearly 900,000 rides in China.