Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing arm Apollo Go and Freenow by Lyft have begun testing the sixth-generation RT6 robotaxi on public roads in London, marking Baidu's first European city rollout under the strategic partnership the two companies signed in 2025.
Trial launches in Brent with safety operators
The initial phase runs in the London Borough of Brent with safety operators on board, gathering data across a mix of urban and suburban conditions. Subject to UK regulatory clearance, Apollo Go and Freenow by Lyft plan to open the service to paying riders in 2027. "By combining our cutting-edge autonomous driving technology with Freenow by Lyft's local operational expertise, we are officially moving from vision to reality," said Nan Yang, Baidu VP and general manager of overseas intelligent driving.
RT6 slots into Freenow's taxi and PHV network
Under the partnership, Baidu provides the RT6 vehicle and self-driving stack while Freenow by Lyft manages local fleet operations. The RT6 cars will run alongside Freenow's existing taxi and private hire vehicle network, with the companies pitching autonomy as a way to trim wait times and expand shared-mobility options. Censuswide research commissioned by Freenow found 58% of Londoners are open to trying an autonomous vehicle, rising to nearly two-thirds among under-35s.
Right-hand-drive push builds on Hong Kong permit
The London program follows Apollo Go's July 23 fully driverless Level 4 permit from Hong Kong's Transport Department, the first fully driverless trial in any right-hand-drive market. Globally, Apollo Go says it has now logged more than 22 million passenger journeys, with 3.2 million fully driverless rides in Q1 2026 and over 330 million autonomous kilometres across 27 cities.
London joins a crowded UK robotaxi race
Apollo Go is entering a market that has quickly become one of the world's most contested robotaxi battlegrounds, with Waymo, Wayve and Uber all lining up UK trials. Baidu's step complements the broader autonomous-services push tracked in Waymo's Phoenix freeway restart and Waymo's general-availability launch in Dallas, and mirrors the Chinese-tech export narrative behind US scrutiny of Chinese robotics imports.
Reporting based on coverage from Future Transport-News, TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance and the Freenow by Lyft blog.