Baidu Apollo Go Robotaxi In Malaysia and Singapore Soon?

Baidu is looking to bring its Apollo Go robotaxi service to Malaysia and Singapore as early as 2025, marking a major step in the company’s plans to expand beyond China.

A source familiar with the matter said Baidu is already in discussions with potential partners to explore the right business models for both markets.

Rather than building its own fleet, Baidu is aiming for an asset-light approach. It’s looking to work with local taxi operators, mobility service providers, and third-party fleet managers to get the service up and running without heavy investment.

This strategy echoes what Baidu CEO Robin Li has said before that strong local partnerships are key to scaling robotaxi services overseas.

If all goes to plan, Singapore and Malaysia will become Apollo Go’s first Southeast Asian markets. The timing comes as the global robotaxi space heats up. Tesla is preparing to launch its Cybercab service in the US, while other autonomous driving players like WeRide and Pony.ai are expanding into Europe and the Middle East.

Back home in China, Apollo Go has been growing quickly. The service has already deployed more than 1,000 self-driving vehicles and crossed 11 million cumulative rides in the first quarter of 2025. That puts it ahead of Waymo, which had reached 10 million paid rides as of May.

In the second quarter of 2024 alone, Apollo Go delivered close to 900,000 rides, up 26 percent from a year earlier. Much of this success has been driven by China’s more flexible regulatory environment, which has allowed for faster rollout compared to Western markets.

Looking ahead, Baidu has even bigger ambitions. It aims to be in 65 cities globally by the end of 2025, and to expand that to 100 cities by 2030.

The global robotaxi market is projected to grow from USD 2.5 billion (RM12 billion) in 2024 to more than USD 118 billion (RM555 billion) by 2031. With the Asia-Pacific region already holding a third of the market share, Malaysia and Singapore could become important launchpads for Baidu’s international push.

Source: NST