China's Baidu to operate driverless taxis in two cities

WUHAN - Chinese tech giant Baidu has obtained permission to operate fully driverless taxis commercially on public roads in the cities of Wuhan and Chongqing.

Baidu will offer the commercial robotaxi service -- with no driver present -- in some areas of the two cities via the company's autonomous ride-hailing platform Apollo Go.

Baidu said it would implement redundant monitoring and parallel driving to ensure passengers' safety.

Baidu has launched a pilot service on Apollo Go in various Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

In recent years, China has rolled out a series of policies to promote the development and commercialization of self-driving technology.