Baidu has started testing Apollo Go autonomous vehicles in London through its partnerships with Lyft and Freenow, the taxi and mobility platform owned by Lyft. Dozens of purpose-built RT6 vehicles will operate in the borough of Brent with human safety operators, meaning the programme is a supervised road test rather than a driverless commercial service.
The deployment follows a strategic agreement announced almost a year earlier to bring Baidu's robotaxis to major European markets through Lyft's platform. Lyft acquired Freenow in 2025 for about $197 million, gaining an established European taxi network that can supply customers, fleet relationships and local operating knowledge without building those channels from zero.
The companies intend to invite members of the public to hail the vehicles in 2027 but have not provided a more precise timetable. Launch remains conditional on regulatory approval, so the commercial target depends on safety evidence, government rules and city-level operating permissions rather than technology testing alone.
London has become a concentrated competitive market. Waymo began supervised testing in April, while Uber and British autonomous-driving developer Wayve plan to introduce a service during 2026. The Uber-Wayve programme is also expected to start with safety operators before moving toward fully driverless operation, placing several well-funded systems on parallel regulatory tracks.
The United Kingdom is still constructing the operating framework. Applications opened in May for an autonomous-vehicle pilot programme under government oversight. Lyft, Freenow and Baidu remain in discussions with Transport for London and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, institutions that will shape testing conditions and any path to paying passengers.
Freenow plans a hybrid network in which professional taxi and private-hire drivers operate alongside autonomous vehicles. Chief Executive Thomas Zimmermann has said the technology should support the drivers who move London. That commitment matters commercially and politically because platform economics, labour participation and service coverage will determine whether automation supplements or displaces the existing supply base.
The partnership combines different strategic assets. Baidu brings the vehicle and Apollo Go driving system; Lyft provides a consumer platform; and Freenow contributes European taxi infrastructure. For Baidu, London is an entry point into a highly visible foreign market. For Lyft, robotaxis can broaden supply while its $197 million acquisition anchors the local channel.
The next milestones are operational rather than promotional: safe performance by the Brent fleet, admission to the UK pilot framework, clearance from national and London authorities and evidence that human-driven and autonomous rides can coexist economically. Until public rides begin, the 2027 date remains a conditional objective in a crowded field, not a booked commercial launch.
