New partnerships between Chinese firm Baidu and ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft could see autonomous taxis on UK roads next year.
The Baidu Apollo Go self-driving taxi has been deployed extensively across China already, now the firm is seeking regulatory approval to test the vehicles in London through partnerships with the taxi firms.
Lyft chief executive David Risher said the initial testing of Baidu’s driverless cars will see a few dozen being examined in 2026 “with plans to scale to hundreds from there”.
Uber said it would begin its pilot in the first half of next year.
“We’re excited to accelerate Britain’s leadership in the future of mobility, bringing another safe and reliable travel option to Londoners next year,” the company said.
The development could give way to a highly competitive autonomous vehicle market in the British capital, which has already seen American Waymo autonomous taxis and Wayve developed self-driving Ubers deployed on its streets.
Responding to the announcement, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Another vote of confidence in our plans for self-driving vehicles from global leader Lyft.
“We’re planning for self-driving cars to carry passengers for the first time from Spring, under our pilot scheme – harnessing this technology safely and responsibly to transform travel.”
