Baidu rolls out driverless taxi service in two Chinese cities

Baidu has rolled out commercial driverless taxi services in the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Chongqing, expanding the transport option beyond the country's capital Beijing. The launch comes this week with the government releasing China's first draft guidelines on the use of self-driving vehicles for public transport. Baidu said in a statement that it secured regulatory approvals to collect fares for its driverless taxi service Apollo Go in the two Chinese cities. The autonomous vehicle manufacturer's vice president and chief safety operation officer of intelligent driving group, Wei Dong, said: "Fully driverless cars providing rides on open roads to paying customers means we have finally come to the moment the industry has been longing for. We believe these permits are a key milestone on the path to the inflection point when the industry can finally roll out fully autonomous driving services at scale."