According to informed sources, the Chinese technology company Baidu's robotic taxi department Apollo Go is in negotiations with several companies to expand to overseas markets in the "near future," but there is no detailed information on timing or regions.

Baidu is one of the main operators of robotic taxis in China. Regulatory institutions in parts of Beijing and cities like Wuhan (Apollo Go's largest operational area) have allowed the company to commercially operate self-driving taxis after years of internal testing.

Tesla is scheduled to hold a highly anticipated robotic taxi event on Thursday.

Canaccord's George Gianarikas said expectations for the Tesla robotaxi event are "quite low".

Another Chinese robotaxi developer, WeRide, announced in late September that its vehicles will be integrated into the Uber platform in Abu Dhabi. The statement mentioned that these companies do not intend to establish similar partnerships in the United States or China.

In July, BYD announced that they will develop "vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities" for the Uber platform of a ride-hailing company. However, they did not share details.

The Chinese Robotaxi amusement facilities operated by companies like Baidu and Pony.ai often offer high subsidies to encourage their use. Local regulations sometimes require human staff to be present in the vehicles, which means not all vehicles are fully autonomous.

Baidu stated that as of late July, Apollo Go had completed over 7 million robotic taxi operations.

In addition, Baidu announced on Tuesday, October 8th, that Lu Rong will no longer serve as its chief financial officer, but will instead become the Executive Vice President overseeing the company's Mobile Ecosystem Division. The company stated that the former head of the mobile division, He Junjie, will serve as the interim chief financial officer. Baidu describes these changes as part of a "management rotation".