Chinese tech company Baidu said Monday that it can sell robo-taxis without human staff.
Baidu
Beijing — Chinese tech company Baidu announced Friday that it can now operate robo-taxis without human staff or drivers in parts of Beijing’s capital.
The move will reduce the labor cost of operating self-driving taxis to the number allowed.
The government approval initially covers 10 vehicles in the Beijing suburb of Yizhuang, which is home to many companies, including JD.com.
This suburb is a key location for Baidu’s robo-taxis public road testing and operations in the city of Beijing. In November 2021, local governments allowed Baidu and rival robo-taxi operator Pony.ai to charge rides.
Public transport users can book rides on highly subsidized robo-taxis through their apps.
Baidu shares 12 months performance.
Baidu shares surged more than 15% briefly during trading in Hong Kong on Friday.
Shares closed at an eight-week low on Thursday after the company unveiled ChatGPT’s Chinese-language rival, artificial intelligence-powered Erniebot. CEO Robin Li said the company’s Ernie bot wasn’t perfect and stressed the need to improve the product.
