Business Desk 
May 14, 2025
Chinese tech giant Baidu is gearing up to introduce its driverless ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, to Europe, an increadible feat as part of its global expansion plans amid fierce competition in its home country.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Dimsum Daily reported that the autonomous automaker is also in talks with Switzerland’s PostAuto, a subsidiary of Swiss Post, to begin driverless taxi trials by the end of 2025.
The EV bellwether is also on the lookout to set up a local entity in Switzerland in the near future while exploring a similar rollout in Turkey.
Baidu's latest widening push comes in the midst of an ever-intensifying battle between Chinese and US firms to commercialise autonomous driving, including advanced driver-assistance systems.
Baidu is also faced with stiff competition from rivals like Tesla, owned by tech tycoon Elon Musk, which is all set to debut its robotaxi service in Texas next month.
Baidu's European expansion follows its earlier efforts in the Middle East and Asia. It plans to deploy 100 fully autonomous vehicles in Dubai by the end of 2025, scaling to 1,000 by 2028. Trials have also begun in Hong Kong.
Analysts were of the view that Europe is a valuable opportunity for Baidu owing to high taxi driver wages.
