In the fourth quarter of last year, Baidu's robotaxi platform Apollo Go saw about 213,000 orders for manned rides, an increase of nearly 100 percent from the third quarter.

(Image credit: Baidu)

As one of the most aggressive companies exploring robotaxi services in China, Baidu saw strong growth in orders for this type of mobility in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Baidu's robotaxi platform, Apollo Go, saw about 213,000 orders for manned rides, an increase of nearly 100 percent from the third quarter.

Baidu provided these figures when it reported unaudited fourth-quarter earnings, in which the company achieved revenue of RMB 33.09 billion, beating Wall Street analysts' expectations of RMB 32.23 billion.

So far, Apollo Go's services have covered eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Changsha, Cangzhou and Yangquan.

On February 25, Yangquan officially issued a commercialization pilot license notice to Apollo Go, and on February 27, Apollo Go began offering self-driving travel services for a fee to the local public.

This makes Yangquan the third city for Apollo Go's paid services after Beijing and Chongqing.

Baidu began its involvement in self-driving technology nine years ago and was one of the first companies to enter the field in China.

In the third quarter, Apollo Go provided 115,000 rides, making Baidu the world's largest provider of self-driving mobility services.

Baidu hopes to expand its self-driving mobility service to 65 cities by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030, Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li has previously said.

Baidu's Apollo providing far more self-driving mobility services than Waymo