Uber, Lyft partner with Baidu for UK robotaxi trials next year

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Uber and Lyft said on Monday they were teaming up with Chinese tech giant Baidu to launch driverless taxi trials in the UK next year, reinforcing the country's role as Europe's leading testbed for commercializing robotaxis.

As part of the partnerships, Baidu's Apollo Go RT6 vehicles will join the London networks of the ride-hailing platforms in 2026, marking the first direct competition between U.S. and Chinese autonomous giants in a European capital, following Alphabet-owned Waymo's recent start of supervised tests in the city.

The UK's emergence as a global sandbox is fueled by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, which provides a legal framework for liability that currently eludes the more fragmented European Union. The act shifts legal responsibility for incidents from the person in the car to the "authorized self-driving entity."

London-based startup Wayve is also preparing to launch driverless trials in 2026, leveraging a roughly $1 billion investment led by SoftBank Group and Uber, as it tests its "mapless" AI technology on London's complex urban streets alongside its global rivals.

This momentum mirrors a broader global surge as Baidu and WeRide expand operations into the Middle East and Switzerland, while cities such as Austin, San Francisco in the U.S., UAE's Abu Dhabi, and Wuhan, China have become major hubs for robotaxi operations.

Robotaxis promise safer, greener and more cost-efficient rides, but profitability remains uncertain. Public companies such as Pony.ai and WeRide are still loss-making, and analysts warn that the high cost of autonomous fleets could pressure margins for platforms such as Uber and Lyft.

Analysts have said hybrid networks, mixing robotaxis with human drivers, may be the most viable model to manage demand peaks and pricing.

For Lyft, the UK trial serves as a cornerstone of its international expansion following its $200 million acquisition of the European taxi app FreeNow this year.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)