Benzinga | Nov 18, 2021 08:29AM EST

Baidu Goes Aggressive On Robotaxi Launch To Diversify

* Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) aims to launch its driverless taxi service in 100 cities by 2030, CNBC reports. Users can hail an autonomous car via an app.

* Currently, Baidu operates its Apollo Go robotaxi service in five Chinese cities. Baidu looks to expand Apollo Go to 65 cities by 2025 and then 100 cities by 2030.

* Analysts see Baidu's investment in autonomous driving as a multi-billion dollar business for the tech giant in the future.

* Baidu still earns the majority of its revenue from advertising. However, Baidu's ad spending was affected by a slowdown in China's economic growth. It sees the headwind to continue in the near term.

* Related Content: Baidu Shares Pop As AI Cloud Revenue Grows 73% In Q3

* Price Action: BIDU shares traded lower by 2.67% at $157.50 in the premarket session on the last check Thursday.