Uber just announced a deal today with the company that runs one of the largest robotaxi fleets in China, as the ridehail giant nears its goal of becoming the world’s ultimate autonomous vehicle clearinghouse.

Lucid stock jumps 28% after striking a major robotaxi deal with Uber and Nuro, signaling a bold new chapter in autonomy.

As part of the arrangement, Baidu will introduce thousands of its Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on Uber’s platform in areas outside of China and the United States.

Uber has partnered with a number of firms for robotaxi services, but this latest alliance is getting more attention than most.

Uber and Baidu soon want to offer robotaxi services outside China and the USA. A newly signed strategic partnership provides for thousands of Baidu's

Jefferies views Baidu's (BIDU) newly announced partnership with Uber (UBER) for robotaxi services in Asia (excl. China) and the Middle East as a positive, which underscores the Chinese company's leading position in autonomous technology.

Tesla has expanded the service area of its Robotaxi service in Austin, and it did so to draw a penis-shaped service map, seemingly for no other reason than to satisfy the juvenile humor of its CEO, but what it really achieved is to illustrate how unserious Tesla’s Robotaxi business is compared to other efforts.

China’s largest car rental operator, Car Inc., now rents autonomous cars. The company, also known as “Zuche”, is using cars from Chinese tech giant Baidu for the service. China’s government let Baidu’s “Apollo” cars hit the road in 2021, albeit in very small sections of Beijing.