Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, has surpassed 14 million passenger rides as of August, underscoring its lead in China's fast-growing autonomous ride-hailing sector. The milestone was disclosed in the company's second-quarter (Q2) earnings report on Wednesday, alongside news that the Hong Kong Transport Department has issued the service a new pilot license. The license extends Apollo Go's trials into the Southern District, building on earlier operations in North Lantau and paving the way for future entry into additional right-hand drive markets.
The service delivered more than 2.2 million driverless rides in Q2 2025 alone, a 148% surge from a year earlier. Its operations now cover 16 cities worldwide, with cumulative rides exceeding 14 million by August 2025.
Apollo Go's fleet has already logged more than 200 million kilometers of autonomous driving, while continuing to report strong safety performance.
The latest authorization enables Apollo Go to extend testing to Hong Kong's Southern District, adding to earlier deployments in North Lantau—including the airport island—and the Tung Chung residential areas. Since receiving Hong Kong's first autonomous vehicle pilot license in November 2024, the company has completed over 20,000 kilometers of safe driving within the city.
This is Apollo Go's third expansion in Hong Kong within six months, steadily broadening its trials into more challenging urban environments that span both business districts and residential neighborhoods.
The Hong Kong rollout also marks Apollo Go's first venture into a right-hand drive, left-side traffic environment—an important step in demonstrating the system's flexibility across different regulatory and road conditions.
Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu, emphasized that experience in Hong Kong will provide critical insights for entering other right-hand drive markets, bolstering confidence in Apollo Go's global scalability.
Baidu is also accelerating Apollo Go's international rollout through a string of high-profile partnerships.
In July, the company struck a multi-year deal with Uber to integrate thousands of Apollo Go vehicles into the Uber platform across international markets outside the U.S. and the Chinese Mainland. The first rollouts are scheduled for Asia and the Middle East later this year.
A month later, Baidu partnered with Lyft to bring Apollo Go to Europe. The service is slated to debut in Germany and the UK in 2026, subject to regulatory approval, with ambitions to expand into a multi-thousand-vehicle fleet across the continent.
Beyond Hong Kong, Apollo Go began road testing in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this August, further extending its footprint into the Middle East.
