Chinese technology giant Baidu (BIDU) has received the permits needed to operate a self-driving taxi service within China.
Baidu, which also operates China’s largest search engine, said it received regulatory approvals for its autonomous ride-hailing service called “Apollo Go” and can now operate driverless taxis during the daytime in the cities of Chongqing and Wuhan.
Baidu is the first company within China to receive approval to operate a self-driving taxi service.
Baidu is required to have a human safety operator present in the vehicles but not a human driver, the company said.
The permits allow Baidu to provide driverless robotaxi services in designated areas of Wuhan from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and in Chongqing from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.
Baidu stock is down 9% this year and trading at $136.40 U.S. per share.
In North America, driverless taxis have not yet been approved and ride hailing giants such as Uber and Lyft have abandoned plans to launch self-driving taxis in major cities such as San Francisco and Toronto.
However, Waymo One, the autonomous ride-hailing service operated by Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL), does offer driverless rides in Phoenix, Arizona.
