Lyft and Baidu enter the robotaxi battlefield in London as testing begins

Chinese tech giant Baidu has begun testing self-driving vehicles in London as part of its partnership with Lyft and Freenow, the German ride-hailing and ride-hailing app that Lyft now owns. Baidu is the latest in a series of companies testing self-driving technology in the UK before deploying commercial robotaxis.

The testing, which began on Tuesday with human safety operators, comes nearly a year after the two companies struck a strategic partnership to deploy Baidu’s purpose-built Apollo Go RT6 robotaxi across key European markets through the Lyft platform. The vehicles will eventually be available through Freenow, which Lyft acquired in 2025 for about $197 million.

The deal gave Lyft a foothold in Europe’s ride-hailing market, where a group of well-financed companies are now vying to be first to market with robotaxis.

London in particular is shaping up to be a major battleground in the region. In April, Waymo began testing its self-driving vehicles with human safety operators in the city. Uber and its self-driving technology partner, Wayve, have also announced plans to launch a robotaxi service in London this year. This initial service – which customers can now sign up to in an interest list – will have human safety operators behind the wheel before fully driverless operations begin later.

Baidu and Freenow by Lyft (as the latter service is now called) said they expect to invite public praise for their robots in 2027. The two companies, which did not provide a more detailed timeline, indicated that the launch would depend on regulatory approval.

Currently, dozens of test vehicles will operate within the Brent area of ​​London. Lyft and Freenow said they are continuing discussions with safety and city officials, including Transport for London (TfL) and the Center for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). The UK government is creating regulations for autonomous vehicles and opened applications in May to companies interested in an autonomous vehicle pilot program that would allow companies to test autonomous vehicles under government oversight.

When the service launches, Freenow by Lyft said it will operate a hybrid network — using the same competing language as Uber — meaning human drivers operating taxis and private for-hire vehicles will operate alongside robo-taxis.

“As a platform with deep roots in the taxi industry, our priority is ensuring self-driving technology supports the professional drivers who keep London moving,” Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of Freenow by Lyft, said in a statement.