Baidu autonomous cars will join Uber's global fleet

Baidu and Uber have formed a partnership to deploy Baidu's autonomous vehicles on Uber's ride-hailing platform globally, excluding the U.S. and mainland China. This will allow Baidu to expand its driverless car business internationally. The multi-year agreement will see "thousands" of Baidu's Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on Uber, with initial deployments planned for Asia and the Middle East later this year. Baidu shares rose 4.5% in premarket trading following the announcement. Uber, which sold its own autonomous vehicle unit in 2020, will gain a partner to compete with other autonomous driving companies. Baidu has been operating its own robotaxi service in China since 2021.