Chinese tech giant Baidu and U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft have announced a partnership to bring autonomous robotaxis to Europe.
Starting in 2026, the companies plan to deploy Baidu’s sixth-generation Apollo Go RT6 autonomous vehicles in Germany and the United Kingdom, pending regulatory approval. The partnership is expected to scale over time, with the goal of operating thousands of driverless vehicles across Europe in the years to follow.
The announcement comes just days after Lyft finalized its acquisition of FreeNow, a German-based ride-hailing platform with a presence in over 150 cities across nine European countries. The acquisition gives Lyft an immediate foothold in the region and a network to help launch autonomous services.
Baidu has been operating its Apollo Go robotaxi service in China since 2021. The company has already logged over 11 million autonomous rides in 15 cities across China, including major hubs like Beijing and Wuhan. It recently announced a similar partnership with Uber, targeting markets in the Middle East and Asia.
The Apollo RT6 robotaxi is an electric vehicle purpose-built for ride-hailing, featuring Baidu’s proprietary autonomous driving foundation model and safety systems including a ten-layer redundancy architecture. It’s designed for high-capacity deployment in urban environments.
As part of the rollout, Lyft will manage the operational side of the service — including fleet logistics and customer interaction — while Baidu will supply the autonomous vehicles and provide technical support. The companies will also collaborate closely with European regulators to meet local compliance and safety requirements.
