By Kate Yuan

(JW Insights) Aug 23 -- Chinese tech giant Baidu’s robotaxi platform Apollo Go (萝卜快跑) provided 714,000 rides in the second quarter of 2023, jumping 149% over the previous year, adding to a total 3.3 million rides as of June 30, according to Baidu's Q2 earnings report released on August 22.

Baidu posted RMB34.1 billion ($4.68 billion) revenue in Q2 2023, up 15% from a year earlier. The net profit reached RMB8 billion ($1.1 billion), surging 44% year on year. Both revenue and profit have achieved substantial growth, beating market expectations.

In June this year, Apollo Go received commercial pilot permits from the Pingshan District of Shenzhen as the first batch. In July, it obtained the first batch of licenses issued by the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, allowing it to conduct fully autonomous driving tests on public roads.

Currently, Apollo Go has been approved to provide fully autonomous driving services to the public in four cities of Wuhan, Chongqing, Beijing, and Shenzhen.