Baidu, an AI company, has received first-ever license to test drive fully driverless vehicles on public roads, with no driver or safety operator in the car, in Beijing, China.

The approval is expected to help the Chinese multinational technology company launch paid fully driverless robotaxi service in China’s capital city after its success in Wuhan and Chongqing.

Beijing’s approval to test vehicles comes close on the heels of the company’s announcement of the expansion of its commercialized fully driverless robotaxi service in Wuhan.

The expansion is expected to triple the company’s service area, increase the fleet size in service and improve operating time.

These two developments complement Baidu’s plans to run an additional 200 fully driverless robotaxis across China in 2023 to establish the world’s largest fully driverless ride-hailing operational area the same year.

As part of the permit, Baidu will test 10 fully driverless vehicles across a 20 square kilometer area in Beijing Yizhuang Economic Development Zone, taking the total area of operation and testing for the company’s fully driverless fleet to more than 100 square kilometers across the country.

Wang Chong — Baidu Intelligent Driving Group Chief Brand Officer said: “Backed by the company’s solid foundation in AI, Baidu provides a safe, intelligent and efficient autonomous driving technology system, from fully driverless operation to large-scale commercial operation.

“The generalization ability of Baidu’s autonomous driving technology has progressed at a more advanced pace than expected. Now, the lead time to deploy autonomous driving technology in a new city is only 20 days.”

Having commenced operations in May 2022, Apollo Go, a Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service platform, currently serves one million people and covers 130 square kilometers of area in Wuhan.

  Apollo Go, autonomous vehicles, Baidu, Beijing, China, Wang Chong