Baidu partners with Uber and Lyft to roll out robotaxis in Britain by 2026

Baidu is bringing driverless taxis to London starting next year. The company will work with Lyft and Uber to put its Apollo Go self-driving cars on the capital’s streets.

The companies made the announcements on social media. Lyft plans to start testing several dozen autonomous vehicles in 2026, pending government approval. David Risher, Lyft’s chief executive, posted on X this Monday that they want to “scale to hundreds from there.” Uber said its first trial should start in the first half of 2026. The company said it’s excited about helping Britain lead in transportation and giving Londoners another safe travel option next year.

Baidu now operates in 22 cities and handles more than 250,000 trips weekly, according to the company. It’s racing against Chinese competitors like WeRide and Western giants including Alphabet’s Waymo.

Britain has become attractive to driverless car companies after the government decided in June to speed up approval for autonomous vehicles on public roads. Officials want to allow robotaxi pilot programs starting spring 2026. Baidu looks to be among the first operators.

London has a “Vision Zero” goal to wipe out all serious injuries and deaths in its transportation system by 2041. Self-driving technology is expected to play a big part.

Waymo also eyes London market

As reported by Cryptopolitan previously, Waymo is also preparing to test in London, aiming for full service in 2026. The company currently operates or plans to launch in 26 markets, including Tokyo and New York City.

Baidu has been pushing hard into international markets, with testing underway in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.

Ten years ago, robotaxis seemed like science fiction. This year they became a regular transportation choice in big U.S. cities and parts of Asia.

Waymo kept expanding and dominates the American robotaxi market. Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox both launched their first services in 2025. Baidu’s Apollo Go leads in China.

Some parents now send teens to school in Waymos. Women often mention they like the privacy compared to rides with strangers who drive for traditional taxi and ride-hailing services.

Waymo has done well enough that Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged his rival’s success after criticizing the Google-affiliated company before. At Tesla’s shareholder meeting on November 6, Musk thanked Waymo for “paving the path here” on regulatory approvals that let robotaxis operate across much of the U.S.

Public fear persists despite safety record

Driverless transportation has a long way to go before going mainstream.

According to an early 2025 American Automobile Association survey, 66% of U.S. drivers said they fear autonomous vehicles and 25% were uncertain. The skepticism hasn’t changed much from what AAA found in 2024.

There have been lots of complaints about noise, congestion and sometimes erratic driving from robotaxis. Transportation workers worry about economic impacts. Still, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says documented harmful collisions caused by autonomous vehicles have been relatively few so far.

Robotaxi fares currently run higher than alternatives, according to Obi, which tracks ride-hail pricing and compared Waymo to human-driven Uber and Lyft rides.

Both safety records and costs could change as fleets grow from hundreds to thousands of vehicles.

With 2026 just around the corner, the robotaxi market stands at an important point.

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