Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, announced it has reached 250,000 fully driverless rides per week as of October 31. This achievement puts the Chinese tech giant on par with Alphabet's Waymo, which reported the same weekly ride volume in the spring. The new figure represents a significant increase from the approximately 169,000 average weekly rides Apollo Go conducted in the second quarter. This milestone highlights Baidu's rapid scaling of its autonomous driving operations, a key area of future growth for the company. Apollo Go operates a fleet of over 1,000 vehicles and has been expanding its services beyond China to locations like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with plans to launch in Switzerland in 2027. The intense competition with Waymo will now likely focus on commercial viability, safety records, and regulatory approvals in the global race for autonomous vehicle leadership.