Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, has reached a global fleet of 1,000 robotaxis, the company said on Tuesday, marking a key milestone for the Chinese tech giant’s push into self-driving mobility.
The announcement came during Baidu’s first-quarter earnings call, where CEO Robin Li highlighted the company’s strategic plans to expand internationally following significant growth in China. “Looking ahead, we will deepen our presence in existing markets while strategically entering new ones, capturing broader growth opportunities worldwide,” Li said.
Apollo Go provided more than 1.4 million rides in the first quarter of 2025, a 75% increase year-on-year, according to Baidu’s unaudited earnings report. The service has now accumulated over 11 million ride orders and is operating in 15 cities across China.
Since entering the autonomous driving space in 2013, Baidu has scaled Apollo Go into one of the world’s leading robotaxi platforms. The company began expanding its reach beyond China last year, including launching services in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in March, followed by road tests in Dubai in May. It also gained approval for testing in Hong Kong and has begun operations with right-hand drive vehicles.
Apollo Go plans to further extend its presence in Europe, with Switzerland named as a potential new market. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, Baidu intends to establish a local company there in the coming months.
The company said its autonomous vehicles have achieved 100% driverless operations on public roads in China. “This gives us strong confidence to expand into international markets with higher pricing for ride-hailing service, where we aim to replicate and further optimize our proven approach,” Li said.
Baidu expects Apollo Go to play a significant role in its future performance. “We see a clear path to profitability for Apollo Go as costs in hardware and other areas decrease and the growing operational scale results in more efficiency,” Li added.