Beijing (Gasgoo)- Baidu, Inc. announced on Nov.11 that its autonomous ride-hailing service Apollo Go and UAE-based autonomous mobility company AutoGo have entered an expanded partnership to scale their fully driverless fleet to hundreds of vehicles in Abu Dhabi.
The two companies have also secured one of Abu Dhabi's first commercial driverless operation permits issued by the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), authorizing Apollo Go to offer paid robotaxi services to the public.
The announcement was made during Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week (Nov. 10–15), where Apollo Go and AutoGo jointly showcased their driverless vehicles. The fleet has completed months of fully driverless testing on public roads since the partnership's initial announcement in March.
With this new permit, Apollo Go becomes one of the first global autonomous driving platforms authorized for fully driverless commercial operations in Abu Dhabi. Both companies plan to accelerate toward large-scale robotaxi services by 2026, supporting the city's smart mobility strategy.
As one of the world's leading autonomous ride-hailing platforms, Apollo Go has logged over 240 million autonomous kilometers across 22 cities, recently surpassing 17 million cumulative rides and achieving a weekly ride volume of 250,000 as of Oct. 31. Baidu said the Abu Dhabi fleet expansion reinforces its vision of promoting global adoption of safe and sustainable autonomous mobility.
