Baidu’s Apollo Go Enters Dubai And Abu Dhabi, CEO Robin Li Touts Global Robotaxi Lead With 1.4 Million Rides In Q1 – Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc. BIDU said Tuesday it has entered the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets with its Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing service, marking a significant expansion into higher-priced international markets.
What Happened: The Beijing-based company began open road validation testing in Dubai in May and expects to start testing in Abu Dhabi soon, CEO Robin Li said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
“With over 1,000 fully driverless vehicles now deployed globally, we continue to solidify our position as world’s leading autonomous ride-hailing service provider,” Li said.
Apollo Go now operates in 15 cities globally and provided 1.4 million rides in the first quarter, a 75% increase from the same period last year. Cumulative rides have exceeded 11 million as of May.
Baidu’s RT6 vehicle, described as the world’s first mass-produced Level 4 autonomous vehicle designed for driverless operations, has a unit cost below $30,000.
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Why It Matters: Baidu has invested in technology for over 12 years and positions itself among the first companies to operate autonomous ride-hailing at scale.
Beyond geographic expansion, Baidu is exploring partnerships. In May, it partnered with CAR Inc., China’s leading auto rental provider, for autonomous vehicle rental services.
The robotaxi expansion supports Baidu’s broader AI strategy. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $4.51 billion, beating estimates, with AI Cloud business growing 42% year-over-year to $6.7 billion.
Price Actions: Baidu Inc.’s stock closed at $85.48 on Tuesday, down 4.32% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock edged down 0.11% to $85.39. Year to date, Baidu shares have gained 3.36%.
Baidu’s Apollo Go competes with several U.S.-listed autonomous driving and robotaxi players, including Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, Alphabet Inc.‘s GOOGL GOOG Waymo, Tesla Inc. TSLA with its anticipated robotaxi service, and Amazon.com Inc.‘s AMZN Zoox.
Baidu shows a positive medium-term price trend, but the stock has turned negative in both the short and long term. According to Benzinga Edge Stock Ranking, the stock scores well on growth and valuation metrics, but underperforms on quality. For a deeper breakdown, visit Benzinga Edge Stock Ranking.
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