Baidu is expanding its robotaxi push in Europe through Lyft-owned Freenow, with supervised testing starting in Brent and commercial driverless service targeted for 2027, subject to UK regulatory approval.
Baidu's Apollo Go has begun public road testing in London through partnerships with Lyft-owned Freenow and Uber, adding the Chinese company's robotaxi platform to an increasingly crowded autonomous vehicle race in the UK capital. Initial testing with Freenow will take place in the Brent district using vehicles with safety operators onboard across urban and suburban routes, while Baidu and Lyft aim to launch driverless taxi services to the public in 2027, pending regulatory approval. The move builds on Baidu's broader cooperation with Lyft, which acquired Germany-based Freenow in 2025 for about $197 million, and is intended to help deploy Apollo Go RT6 vehicles in major European markets through Lyft's platform and the Freenow by Lyft app. London has emerged as a key testing ground as Waymo began supervised testing there in April and Uber with Wayve also plans a rollout this year. The London push follows Baidu's approval in Hong Kong for fully driverless public-road testing in North Lantau, a right-hand-drive market that may help inform its expansion into London.