Baidu secures driverless robotaxi approval in Switzerland

Chinese tech giant Baidu has secured a critical regulatory green light to launch its autonomous vehicle service in Europe. Developed in partnership with Switzerland’s public bus operator, PostBus, the self-driving service—named AmiGo—received approval on Friday to begin operations in eastern Switzerland.

The joint venture sets its sights on deploying regular, completely driverless operations by early 2027, pending the fulfillment of final safety and regulatory benchmarks. According to Baidu, the initiative is positioned to become Europe's largest automated public transport operation of its scale, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Passengers will be able to book rides through a dedicated mobile app. The AmiGo service will leverage Apollo Go’s fully electric RT6 vehicles. Built specifically for urban transit, these vehicles are capable of carrying up to three passengers and come equipped with an advanced array of more than 30 sensors to navigate environments safely.

The operational core relies on Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities. This industry standard signifies a high level of automation where the vehicle can safely handle all driving tasks without any human intervention, operating entirely driverless under specified routes and conditions.

This regulatory milestone comes roughly a year after Baidu first announced its partnership with PostBus. Facing economic headwinds and slowing growth in its core, advertising-dependent internet search business within China, Baidu has shifted significant strategic focus onto international expansion, artificial intelligence, and the global scaling of its self-driving commercial business.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada