Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service Apollo Go has entered the South Korean market, marking its first expansion in Asia beyond the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.
The service will begin operations in the Seoul metropolitan area, highlighting Baidu’s ambition to accelerate Apollo Go’s global rollout and tap into one of Asia’s most tech-forward mobility markets.
The South Korea launch comes as Apollo Go’s autonomous fleet surpasses 20 million cumulative rides worldwide as of February 2026. In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, the platform recorded more than 300,000 weekly rides.
In total, the vehicles have accumulated more than 300 million autonomous kilometres, including more than 190 million fully driverless kilometres.
The South Korea debut follows a series of international expansions. In Asia, Apollo Go broadened its Hong Kong trial footprint with new cross-district testing. In the Middle East, it launched fully driverless services in Abu Dhabi with AutoGo, secured Dubai’s first driverless testing permit, and partnered with Uber to integrate Apollo Go into the Uber platform. In Europe, the company has piloted autonomous vehicles in London through partnerships with Uber and Lyft, and begun testing in St Gallen, Switzerland, with PostBus.
Entelechy Asia 