Agencies-Gaza post
China for the first time allows driverless “taxis”
Baidu became the first company in China to operate taxis, fully autonomous and without a human driver, on public roads. Previously, self-driving taxis were only possible with a driver on board to ensure additional safety.
Licenses for “robot taxis” are immediately valid in the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Wuhan, according to Chinese tech giant Baidu, a rival to US firm Google.
The Chinese giant added that “robot taxi” cars can now be operated there without drivers. Baidu explained that this is a turning point in dealing with self-driving cars.
The operation of the robot taxi, according to the channel “De Debello“, is initially limited to certain periods of the day.
Baidu started operating five cars in each of the two cities and is already negotiating the expansion of the offer to include cities inhabited by millions of people such as Beijing and Shanghai.
According to his own data, the robotics division of the Chinese Giant Group has now carried out more than 1 million trips in 10 Chinese cities.
The Baidu Group competes with Bonnie Aye (Pony.ai), a startup funded by Toyota.
Android taxis are already allowed to be used in Beijing but with restrictions, there must continue to be a driver in the passenger’s seat at the front of the vehicle.
Automotive companies and technology companies around the world invest billions of dollars in the development and operation of self-driving cars.
China and the United States are more advanced than Germany and other countries in allowing this. In San Francisco, California, there are motorless robot taxis from the Cruis startup already on the road but on selected and pre-selected streets.
