By Akash Sriram
(Reuters) -U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft said on Monday it will partner with China's Baidu to deploy robotaxis across Europe starting next year, marking the Chinese search engine giant's first foray into the European self-driven taxi sector.
The partnership will launch initially in Germany and the United Kingdom, with Baidu’s electric RT6 robotaxis operating on Lyft’s platform pending regulatory approval.
The rollout aims to scale to thousands of vehicles across Europe in the coming
years, leveraging Lyft’s $200 million acquisition of European mobility app FreeNow, completed on Thursday.
The deal gives Lyft access to operations in nine countries and over 180 cities, marking its first expansion outside North America.
Under the partnership, Lyft will operate the platform, managing customer services and fleet logistics, while Baidu will supply autonomous vehicles and technical expertise.
"What we're excited about with FreeNow is they have a deep, long-lasting relationship with regulators, and we want to go and have those conversations about how we do this," Lyft Executive Vice President of Driver Experience Jeremy Bird told Reuters.
The UK government has fast-tracked its robotaxi timeline and is aiming for initial services with paying passengers by spring 2026.
Companies such as Uber and Wayve are also preparing for deployment once regulatory clearance is granted.
The deal comes as rival Uber has expanded its global robotaxi efforts, working with Waymo, Pony.ai, WeRide, and Momenta, with a European launch also set for 2026.
Uber’s global robotaxi presence intensifies pressure on Lyft to expand beyond its North American home market and build its autonomous capabilities.
Baidu’s Apollo Go service currently operates over 1,000 vehicles across 15 cities globally and has completed more than 11 million rides, but its partnership with Lyft marks its first commercial move into Europe.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
