China’s Baidu obtains permits to operate fully driverless robotaxi services

China search engine giant Baidu Inc has said that it has obtained permits to operate fully driverless robotaxi services on open roads from two Chinese cities, the first of their kind in the country.

The permits, awarded by the southwestern municipality of Chongqing and the central city of Wuhan, allow commercial robotaxis to offer rides to the public without human safety drivers in the car, Reuters reports.

Baidu said they marked a "turning point" in China's policy-making towards autonomous driving.

At first, Baidu will deploy a batch of five fee-charging robotaxis in each city, where they will be allowed to operate in designated areas from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Wuhan and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Chongqing, the company said in a statement.

The service areas span 30 square km (11.58 square miles) in Chongqing’s Yongchuan District and 13 sq km in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone.

In April, Baidu's Apollo and Toyota Motor Corp-backed (7203.T) Pony.ai said that they received permits in Beijing to deploy robotaxis without safety drivers in the driver's seat on open roads within a 60 sq km area. But the Beijing permits still require them to have a safety driver in the passenger seat. These services have started.

Baidu is also in talks with local governments in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, to secure licenses within a year to test fully-driverless and unpaid robotaxis in those cities.