China's Baidu says it's running 250,000 robotaxis a week — same as Alphabet's Waymo did this spring

Core Insights - Baidu has announced the capability to sell robotaxi rides without human staff, marking a significant advancement in its autonomous vehicle operations [1] - The company has surpassed 250,000 fully driverless rides per week as of October 31, indicating rapid growth in its robotaxi services [1][3] - Apollo Go, Baidu's driverless car unit, has received a total of 17 million ride orders and has completed 240 million kilometers (149 million miles) of driving, with 140 million of those being fully driverless rides [4] Company Operations - Apollo Go primarily operates in major Chinese cities such as Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and is expanding its services to international locations including Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Switzerland [4] - The company averaged about 169,000 rides per week for the quarter ending June 30, based on previous disclosures of 2.2 million fully driverless rides [3] Industry Comparison - Baidu's weekly ride figures are comparable to those reported by Waymo, which operates in the U.S. markets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix [2] - Waymo has not provided updated figures since April, indicating that Baidu's growth may position it competitively within the global robotaxi market [2]