Baidu Wins First European Regulatory Approval for Driverless Robotaxi Service in Switzerland
Baidu’s autonomous vehicle service AmiGo received a Level 4 operating permit from Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office on Friday, June 12, marking the first European regulatory approval granted to a Chinese autonomous driving company for commercial driverless operations. The approval, issued by Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), covers an approximately 80-square-kilometre service area spanning the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, and Appenzell Innerrhoden in eastern Switzerland.
The service was developed in partnership with Switzerland’s public bus operator PostBus, and will operate under the brand name AmiGo. Baidu aims to launch regular fully driverless operations by early 2027, provided all safety and regulatory requirements are met. WTVBWTVB
How the Service Works
AmiGo will use Apollo Go’s fully electric RT6 vehicles, each capable of carrying three passengers and equipped with over 30 sensors. The RT6 is a purpose-built autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel, designed exclusively for driverless operation. The service will be bookable through a dedicated app. WTVBWTVB
Open-road autonomous driving trials began on June 1, 2026, across the approximately 80-square-kilometre service area. The FEDRO permit confirms that the system meets Switzerland’s safety and quality requirements for Level 4 autonomous operations — a standard under which the vehicle can operate without a human driver under specific defined conditions. PR Newswire
Nan Yang, Vice President of Baidu and General Manager of the Overseas Business Unit for its Intelligent Driving Group, said the FEDRO permit represents an important milestone. “Receiving FEDRO’s special permit is an important milestone for AmiGo and a strong validation of our technology,” Yang said. “Under Switzerland’s rigorous safety framework, AmiGo represents an important step toward integrating autonomous mobility into the country’s public transport system.” PR Newswire
Stefan Regli, CEO of PostBus and a member of the executive board of Swiss Post, framed the approval as the beginning of a phased rollout. “With AmiGo, we are making automated mobility in public transport tangible,” Regli said. “The special permit from FEDRO shows that we can implement operations step by step and under clearly defined conditions.” PR Newswire
Apollo Go’s Global Scale
The Switzerland approval comes as Baidu’s Apollo Go platform reports significant operational growth. In the first quarter of 2026, Apollo Go delivered 3.2 million fully driverless rides, with weekly rides peaking at over 350,000 in March — a 120% year-on-year increase. As of April 2026, cumulative rides provided to the public exceeded 22 million. Apollo Go’s global footprint now spans 27 cities, and its fleets have accumulated over 330 million autonomous kilometres, including over 220 million fully driverless kilometres. DigitalMoreDigitalMore
Baidu announced the PostBus partnership last year as the Chinese tech firm accelerated a global push of its self-driving business. According to Baidu, the initiative is positioned to become Europe’s largest automated public transport operation of its kind. WTVBNews.az
The Business Imperative Behind the Expansion
Baidu’s European push reflects strategic pressure at home. China’s leading search engine operator has been increasing its focus on technologies including AI and self-driving as its advertising-driven search engine business has slowed due to a weakening Chinese economy. WTVB
The RT6 vehicle is central to Baidu’s global cost strategy. Halton Niu, General Manager for Apollo Go’s overseas business, told CNBC that the platform produces electrically-powered robotaxi vehicles that are 50% cheaper than competitors by developing them in-house rather than relying on a third-party manufacturer. “Once we can generate profit for every single car in a second-tier city like Wuhan in mainland China, we can generate profits in lots of cities across the world,” Niu said. CNBC
Europe’s Robotaxi Race
The Switzerland approval sets up a three-way race between Chinese firms, Alphabet’s Waymo, and ride-hailing platforms for Europe’s emerging autonomous transport market. Alphabet’s Waymo — which operates more than 2,500 vehicles in the United States across California, Texas, and Florida — announced plans to begin trials in London before launching commercial service there. Regulatory efforts to harmonise autonomous vehicle requirements across the EU are driving pilot programmes in France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, creating multiple entry points for both established players and newcomers. KrASIASubstack
WeRide, another Chinese autonomous vehicle developer, has launched robobus trials in Belgium, France, Spain, and Switzerland. Pony.ai is testing in Luxembourg and has outlined a parallel expansion into Singapore and Dubai. Lyft has partnered with Baidu to deploy Apollo Go vehicles in Germany and the UK, giving Baidu a partnership route into Western European ride-hailing markets beyond the public transport channel it is pursuing with PostBus in Switzerland. TechWire Asia
Geopolitical Dimensions
The AmiGo approval carries significance that extends beyond its immediate commercial footprint. Switzerland is not a European Union member, which gives Baidu a regulatory pathway into European road conditions and public trust that bypasses the EU’s more complex approval framework — while building the operational credibility that would underpin any future EU market entry.
The looming European competition between Apollo Go and Waymo marks another front in the struggle for technological supremacy between the US and China. European policymakers are simultaneously navigating how to apply the EU AI Act to autonomous vehicle systems and how to balance openness to Chinese transport technology against concerns about critical infrastructure dependency — a debate that has already shaped policy on Chinese electric vehicles, 5G network equipment, and port machinery. KrASIA
The Swiss approval offers Baidu something its Chinese rivals have not yet achieved: a formal endorsement from a Western regulatory authority with internationally recognised safety standards. That imprimatur matters as much for Baidu’s negotiations with regulators in the UK and Germany as it does for passenger uptake in eastern Switzerland.
Background
Baidu was founded in 2000 and became China’s dominant search engine. The company has invested heavily in autonomous driving since 2013 under its Apollo programme, which it opened to third-party developers in 2017. Apollo Go, the commercial ride-hailing arm of that programme, began offering public rides in Wuhan in 2021 and expanded to multiple Chinese cities in subsequent years. Level 4 autonomous driving — the standard covered by the FEDRO permit — refers to a system that can manage all driving functions under specific conditions without a human backup driver present in the vehicle. At Level 5, a vehicle can operate under all conditions; no commercially deployed system has yet achieved that standard. Switzerland adopted a national legal framework for automated vehicles in January 2024, enabling cantonal and federal regulators to issue permits for autonomous public transport operations.
What Happens Next
Baidu intends to expand AmiGo’s passenger base progressively through the remainder of 2026, with fully driverless commercial operations targeted for early 2027, contingent on continued compliance with FEDRO’s safety framework. Further Apollo Go trials are planned in the UK and Germany in the coming months. MSCI and S&P index providers will monitor BIDU’s share price response to the Swiss approval as part of broader assessments of Baidu’s autonomous vehicle valuation. Apollo Go’s next operational milestone — sustaining weekly rides above the 350,000 peak recorded in March 2026 — will determine whether the scale economics Niu described can support profitable operations in European markets at the fare levels Swiss and broader European consumers are willing to pay. KrASIA
