Baidu said on Nov. 11 that its autonomous ride-hailing service Apollo Go is extending its collaboration with UAE-based operator AutoGo, with plans to scale a fully autonomous fleet to several hundred vehicles in Abu Dhabi.
The companies also received one of the region’s first commercial driverless operation permits from the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), allowing Apollo Go to begin offering paid autonomous robotaxi services to the public.
The announcement was made during Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week, held from Nov. 10–15, where Apollo Go and AutoGo jointly presented their autonomous vehicles. The partners said the fleet has already undergone several months of fully autonomous testing on public roads since the initial partnership was unveiled in March.
With the new permit in place, Apollo Go becomes one of the first global autonomous platforms cleared for commercial driverless operations in Abu Dhabi.
Both companies plan to scale toward large autonomous robotaxi deployments by 2026, supporting the city’s broader smart mobility objectives.
Baidu said Apollo Go has accumulated more than 240 million autonomous kilometers across 22 cities. The service recently surpassed 17 million total autonomous rides and is providing around 250,000 autonomous trips weekly as of Oct. 31.
