Apollo Go, Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, provided 988,000 rides in the third quarter of 2024, up 20% year over year. As of October 28, 2024, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed 8 million.
During the third quarter of 2024, rides provided by Apollo Go’s fully driverless vehicles accounted for over 70% of total rides nationwide. The proportion of fully driverless rides further increased to 80% in October 2024. Apollo Go’s sixth generation autonomous vehicle, the RT6, is now operating on public roads in multiple cities in China.
"The overall market is still in its infancy," said Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, on an earnings call with analysts. "So, competition should help accelerate the growth of the market and foster a more friendly, pro innovation regulatory environment. We believe such regulatory environment is essential for the healthy growth of the -- of this industry and we remain prepared for expansion when the time is right.
"We are actively seeking new opportunities for international expansion. We see significant potential in cities that enable large-scale, fully driverless operations, similar to Wuhan, Chongqing. Additionally, we are open to exploring different business model options, focusing on asset-light strategy to keep our operations flexible and efficient as we grow." Source: Baidu's results
