Baidu announced on August 4th a partnership with the American ride-sharing company Lyft to launch its self-driving taxi service “Apollo Go” in the United Kingdom and Germany starting from 2026. The plan includes deploying thousands of vehicles across several European countries over the next few years. This move is seen as a strategic expansion by the Chinese tech giant into the global autonomous driving market, sparking concerns from the public regarding safety, technology, and political risks.
Both Baidu and Lyft stated that the deployment of self-driving vehicles is subject to regulatory approval. This collaboration signifies Baidu’s accelerated internationalization efforts to compete in the autonomous driving sector against companies like Waymo and Cruise. However, past incidents of safety hazards and user experience issues with “Apollo Go” in China, such as misjudging pedestrians and sudden braking, may pose potential obstacles for its entry into the European market.
Lyft’s presence in the European market has been limited until recently, when it acquired the German ride-hailing platform FreeNow, expanding its services to nine countries and over 150 cities. The partnership with Baidu has not yet determined whether services will be provided through the FreeNow app.
In July, Baidu reached a similar agreement with Uber to introduce “Apollo Go” on the Uber platform in the Middle East and Asia markets, expanding beyond the United States. The collaboration also involves Europe, although the timeline for activation remains undecided. Since 2021, Baidu has been operating autonomous taxis in Beijing and other locations in China, allowing users to hail rides through the “Apollo Go” application platform.
Regarding the economic and political impact of this collaboration, Professor Sun Guoxiang from the Department of International Affairs and Business at Nanhua University in Taiwan believes that with escalating tensions in technology and trade between China, the United States, and Europe, the introduction of Chinese-owned autonomous vehicle fleets into Europe will face scrutiny regarding national security and cybersecurity.
He analyzed the economic considerations behind the partnership, suggesting that for Lyft, it presents an opportunity to expand its business outside North America and increase its market share in Europe to compete with rivals like Uber and Waymo. Meanwhile, Baidu can share R&D costs and enhance its competitiveness in the automotive technology sector in Europe and globally.
However, the European Union and the UK are cautious towards Chinese companies, especially concerning data and transmission infrastructure. Sun Guoxiang speculates that the approval process is highly uncertain, particularly following security scrutiny cases involving Huawei and TikTok, underscoring potential political resistance.
While not guaranteed to be rejected outright, the actual approval process will depend on factors such as data storage methods, operational transparency, security review capabilities, and the evolving political landscape, as Sun Guoxiang emphasized.
Wang He, a columnist for Dajiyuan, noted that Europe lags behind China and the United States in the field of autonomous driving, making the low-cost Chinese self-driving cars appealing to the market. However, he pointed out that the key to market entry is meeting Europe’s stringent technical standards and safety requirements. Even with signed agreements, if the technology falls short, approval from Europe is unlikely.
Concerns surrounding the safety of Baidu’s autonomous driving service “Apollo Go” persist. Reports from Business Insider in February revealed incidents involving a San Francisco engineer, Sophia Tung, who experienced abrupt acceleration, frequent sudden braking, lane changes without signaling, and the need for an emergency takeover by a safety driver to avoid collisions while using “Apollo Go” in Shenzhen.
Additionally, a viral video showcased a “Apollo Go” ride-hailing car in Wuhan colliding with a pedestrian in July 2024, sparking widespread debate online. Baidu responded, attributing the incident to minor contact with a jaywalking pedestrian when the vehicle started moving upon the green light.
Despite accumulating over 100 million kilometers in operation in China, Baidu’s vehicles have faced controversies such as misjudgments of pedestrians, errors in emergency braking, and illegal lane changes. The “cloud remote control” mode utilized by the system is deemed high-risk in Europe and the US, as accidents can occur due to network delays or system intrusion.
Wang He highlighted the significant gap between China’s domestic autonomous driving technology and American companies like Tesla, stating that Tesla currently leads the market by a large margin. A recent real-world test by Chinese automotive media “Dcar” revealed various technological shortcomings in Chinese self-driving cars, not aligning with the proclaimed high-level autonomous driving capabilities.
He also pointed out that self-driving vehicles involve extensive terrain data and sensing images, which are considered state secrets in China, potentially drawing regulatory scrutiny in Europe over information transmission policies.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes stringent requirements on information sovereignty, making compliance with European standards a focal point of regulatory scrutiny. Concerns arise regarding data collection functions like facial recognition, trip records, and app management within “Apollo Go,” which may be subject to restrictions under China’s Cybersecurity Law, raising the risk of government data access.
Sun Guoxiang suggested that Chinese tech companies leveraging international platforms aim to accelerate competition with major US players like Waymo and Cruise, as well as Korean company Pony.ai, for global market share in intelligent travel. However, amidst the broader context of global tech decoupling, transnational collaborations may prompt governments worldwide to strengthen scrutiny and impose additional conditions.
Wang He frankly stated that Chinese autonomous driving technology is still immature, envisioning no immediate prospects for large-scale global expansion. He cautioned that this news is more of a commercial promotion project, with its actual implementation remaining subject to observation.