Home » World » Baidu robot taxis allowed on the road without a driver in China | Tech

Baidu robot taxis allowed on the road without a driver in China | Tech

The Chinese search engine Baidu obtained permits on Monday to allow robot taxis to take to the road in two places. There is no need for a human driver in the car.

The taxis will be allowed on the road without a driver in the Chinese city of Wuhan and Chongqing province from Monday. It is the first time that such permits have been issued in the country.

Baidu called the release of the permits a “turning point” in China’s autonomous driving policy-making. “These permits are of great significance to the industry,” Baidu’s Wei Dong told news agency Reuters.

The company will initially deploy five robot taxis per location. The cars are only allowed to drive during the day and must remain in predetermined zones.

Baidu is also in talks with local governments in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The company hopes to obtain permits within a year to have fully self-driving robot taxis on the road there as well.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.