Baidu, a major Chinese technology company, has started testing self-driving cars on London streets. Dozens of test vehicles are driving around the borough of Brent, each with a human safety operator behind the wheel who can take control if needed. The testing began the week of July 28, 2026 TechCrunch.

The testing is the first visible result of a partnership between Baidu, Lyft, and Freenow that was first reported in August 2025. Lyft is a ride-hailing company, and Freenow is a European mobility app that Lyft acquired in April 2025 for about $197 million TechCrunch. The partnership aims to deploy Baidu's Apollo Go RT6, a car built specifically to drive itself for ride-hailing, across key European markets. Lyft's announcement in August 2025 identified Germany and the United Kingdom as initial targets, with a 2026 start Lyft Blog.

Freenow by Lyft and Baidu said they expect to invite the public to hail self-driving taxis in 2027, if they get regulatory approval. Lyft and Freenow continue discussions with Transport for London (TfL) and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) regarding the deployment TechCrunch.

Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of Freenow by Lyft, said in a statement that their priority is ensuring autonomous technology supports the professional drivers who keep London moving TechCrunch. Freenow by Lyft said it will operate a hybrid network, meaning human drivers and self-driving cars will work alongside each other rather than one replacing the other outright.

The testing also coincides with a UK government pilot program. In May 2026, the government opened applications for a program allowing companies to test self-driving vehicles under government oversight TechCrunch. Baidu and its partners are entering a regulatory environment that has been actively preparing for self-driving cars rather than making up rules as it goes.

Baidu is not entering London exclusively through Lyft. Uber also entered a partnership with Baidu to test Apollo Go self-driving cars in London, in parallel with Lyft's separate arrangement Yahoo Finance. That means Baidu's technology could power self-driving rides on competing ride-hailing apps in the same city. That is unusual in a sector where exclusive deals have been the norm. Waymo, for instance, has operated through exclusive partnerships with ride-hailing apps in US cities. Baidu's approach in London gives its self-driving system broader exposure to real-world European driving conditions and consumer demand, while letting both Lyft and Uber benefit from the same technology.

The scale of Baidu's self-driving operations gives context for the London push. Apollo Go delivered 3.2 million fully driverless rides globally in Q1 2026 Baidu Official. Those rides are concentrated in China, where Baidu has built out its Apollo Go service across multiple cities. London marks one of the first European testbeds for Apollo Go outside that home market.

The regulatory pathway in London differs from the US cities where self-driving taxi services have grown. TfL and CCAV oversight introduces a layered approval process that does not have a direct equivalent in the more permissive environments where AV companies have operated in Arizona or California. The UK's approach requires government-sanctioned pilot participation, and public rides remain gated behind regulatory sign-off that Baidu and Freenow do not expect to clear until 2027.

The hybrid network model, where human drivers and self-driving cars operate in the same fleet, is a deliberate framing that addresses one of the most politically charged aspects of self-driving cars: the displacement of professional drivers. Zimmermann's statement positions the technology as complementary to rather than replacing the existing driver workforce. Whether that framing holds as the proportion of self-driving rides grows is a question that will take years to answer in practice.

The broader context here is that London is shaping up as a distinctive battleground. Multiple self-driving car companies and multiple ride-hailing platforms are converging on a city with a regulatory framework that demands government oversight and a timeline measured in years rather than months. The combination of Baidu's dual-platform partnerships, the UK's structured pilot program, and the 2027 target for public rides means that what begins this week in Brent is a slow, regulated entry rather than a rapid rollout.

The London testing does not immediately change the travel options available to residents. Safety operators remain behind the wheel, public rides are a year away at minimum, and the scope is limited to a single borough. What it does establish is a foothold for Apollo Go in a European market that has been methodically building the rules and infrastructure to accommodate self-driving vehicles on its own terms.