Chinese tech giant Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, Apollo Go, has begun open-road trials in Dubai after receiving the city’s first autonomous driving trial permit and 50 test licences from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
The approval was granted earlier this year, allowing Apollo Go to deploy its fleet in designated urban areas.
Liang Zhang, managing director of EMEA at Baidu Apollo, said, “Together with the RTA, we aim to co-build a global benchmark for intelligent transportation and contribute to solidifying Dubai’s position as a world-leading autonomous city.”
The 50-vehicle fleet has begun trials recently, with plans to expand to more than 1,000 fully driverless vehicles over the next three years. The announcement was made at the 4th Dubai world congress for self-driving transport, where Apollo Go is currently the only platform authorised to run trials on open roads.
Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan, CEO of the public transport agency at the RTA, joined Baidu executives (Zhang) at the announcement. This announcement follows the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Apollo Go and the RTA earlier this year.
Apollo Go is conducting trials using its sixth-generation autonomous vehicle, the RT6. The company said its partnership with the RTA aims to create a benchmark for intelligent transport.
The giant recently partnered with Uber to deploy Apollo Go on the Uber platform across multiple international markets, like Asia and the Middle East by the end of 2025. It also collaborated with CAR Inc., a Chinese auto mobility provider, in May this year to launch China’s first autonomous car rental service.
Apollo Go previously secured Hong Kong’s first autonomous driving test licence in November 2024, marking its entry into a right-hand-drive market. Globally, the company has logged 200 million kilometres of safe driving and provided 14 million autonomous rides.
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