Baidu and Uber unveiled a multi-year agreement on 15 July to place thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform in markets outside the United States and mainland China. The companies said the first robotaxis are expected to appear in Asia and the Middle East later this year, giving Uber riders the option of a fully driverless trip fulfilled by an Apollo Go vehicle. The deal provides the Beijing-based search and artificial-intelligence group with a fast track to international expansion. Baidu currently operates a fleet of more than 1,000 fully driverless cars that have completed about 11 million rides across 15 Chinese cities. “Uber is uniquely positioned to help AV leaders like Baidu bring their autonomous technology to the world,” Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. For San Francisco-based Uber, the partnership extends a recent series of autonomous-vehicle alliances that include Waymo, Volkswagen, May Mobility and Pony AI. The tie-up follows reports in June that Baidu aimed to introduce Apollo Go in Singapore and Malaysia by the end of 2025, underscoring intensifying competition among robotaxi operators looking for scale beyond their home markets. Baidu shares rose about 4.5% in US pre-market trading after the announcement, while Uber gained more than 1%.