By Jiahui Huang
Baidu's Apollo Go received a permit to trial driverless vehicles in Dubai, as the Chinese tech company expands its robotaxi business overseas.
The company said in a statement on Wednesday that Apollo Go has received Dubai's driverless vehicle trial permit, which allows the company to operate fully autonomous vehicles on selected public roads without a human safety driver behind the wheel as soon as the first quarter of this year.
The company, which has been testing robotaxis with human safety moderators in Dubai, aims to expand its robotaxi fleet in the city to more than 1,000 fully driverless vehicles.
Baidu also launched its first overseas operations and management hub for robotaxis, Apollo Go Park, in Dubai to facilitate charging and maintenance as well as other services.
The move comes as the robotaxi industry scales up and companies look to expand overseas. Waymo of the U.S. plans to enter the U.K. market this year, while Chinese robotaxi companies are focusing on expanding in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe.
The Middle East has become a popular destination for Chinese robotaxi operators, including Pony AI, WeRide and Apollo Go, thanks to supportive policies.
Chinese robotaxi company WeRide said in November that it has launched commercial operations for fully driverless robotaxis in Abu Dhabi via its partnership with Uber.
In September, Pony AI said that it was collaborating with Qatar's government-owned transportation provider Mowasalat to deploy autonomous vehicles in Doha.
Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-07-26 0421ET
