Baidu rolls out paid driverless taxi service in Beijing

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tech giant Baidu has rolled out its paid driverless taxi service, making it the first company that’s commercialized autonomous driving operations in China. Unlike previous Baidu autonomous driving demonstrations in Beijing, Sunday was the first time there was no safety driver sitting behind the wheel. Instead, a safety member was seated at the front passenger seat. Up to 10 Apollo “robotaxis” are now operating simultaneously in an area of about 3 square kilometers (1.2 square miles). They’re picking up and dropping off passengers at eight stops in Shougang Park in western Beijing. Baidu, known for its search engines, has been testing autonomous driving on the open road since last year.