Baidu and Lyft Bring Robotaxis to London's Streets

Chinese tech giant Baidu has begun testing autonomous vehicles in London. The trials started on Tuesday and for now are being conducted with test drivers behind the wheel — part of a partnership with Lyft and the German service Freenow, which Lyft now owns.

The companies signed their cooperation agreement almost a year ago: the plan was to deploy the purpose-built Apollo Go RT6 robotaxi across key European markets through Lyft's platform. Ultimately, the cars are expected to appear in the Freenow app, which Lyft bought in 2025 for roughly $197 million. That deal gave the Americans a foothold in the European ride-hailing business, where several generously funded players are racing to be first to launch a driverless taxi service.

London as a battleground

The British capital is turning into one of the main arenas of this race. In April, Waymo began testing its own autonomous cars with safety drivers. Uber, together with its technology partner Wayve, has also announced plans to launch a robotaxi service in London as early as this year — advance sign-ups for the waiting list are open, and in the first phase a human will be behind the wheel.

Baidu and the rebranded Freenow by Lyft service expect to welcome their first passengers in 2027. The companies did not give a more precise timeline, noting that everything depends on regulatory approval. For now, dozens of test vehicles will operate within London's Brent borough, while talks are underway with, among others, Transport for London and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV).

The UK is in the process of shaping the rules for driverless transport: in May, the authorities opened applications for a pilot programme allowing autonomous cars to be tested under government oversight.

People and machines

Once the service is up and running, Freenow by Lyft promises a hybrid network — the same wording used by Uber: human taxi drivers and private-hire drivers will work side by side with robotaxis. “As a platform with deep roots in the taxi industry, our priority is for autonomous technology to support the professional drivers who keep London moving,” said Freenow by Lyft chief Thomas Zimmermann.

Source: TechCrunch