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Uber has struck another deal with a robotaxi provider, and this time it\u2019s with Chinese tech giant Baidu.<\/p>\n
The two companies announced<\/a> Tuesday that they have agreed to a \u201cmulti-year strategic partnership to deploy thousands of Baidu\u2019s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the Uber platform\u201d in multiple markets outside the U.S. and mainland China. Those deployments will start in Asia and the Middle East later this year, the companies said.<\/p>\n Uber has been on a tear of AV partnerships lately as it looks to protect its ride-hailing business by embracing the rise of robotaxis. <\/p>\n In the last few months alone, Uber has agreed to put AVs from Waymo<\/a>, Volkswagen<\/a>, May Mobility<\/a>, and Pony AI<\/a> on its platform in different cities around the world. In some cases, Uber is taking direct stakes in these companies. In May, Uber announced an expanded partnership with China\u2019s WeRide that included a $100 million investment<\/a>. Uber is reportedly also considering helping its founder Travis Kalanick finance a takeover of Pony AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n As fast as these partnerships have been coming, they are still in the very early stages. In this instance, riders initially won\u2019t be able to request a Baidu AV in Uber\u2019s app. Instead, the companies say the rider \u201cmay be presented with the option\u201d to have their trip fulfilled by a fully driverless Apollo Go AV. This is similar to how some of Uber\u2019s other partnerships already work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n