Feb 10 (Reuters) – Uber and Baidu said on Tuesday they would launch autonomous ride-hailing services in Dubai next month, the latest step in the Chinese technology company’s push for global expansion.

The fully autonomous vehicles will be available on the Uber app at selected locations in the Jumeirah area, the companies said, adding that they would be further expanded depending on operational progress and regulatory approvals across the city.

The move builds on the companies’ partnership, announced last year, to deploy thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform in several international markets outside the US and mainland China.

It’s also a step forward in Uber’s ambitions to compete in the robotaxis market, as tech companies race to drive commercial adoption of self-driving vehicles.

Baidu, which has been commercially operating its Apollo Go robotaxi services in several Chinese cities since 2022 and now has a global footprint of 22 cities, said the service completed more than 17 million trips in October.

The company also has a tie-up with Lyft to roll out robotaxis across Europe. In December, Baidu teamed up with Uber and Lyft to launch trials of their driverless taxi services in the UK this year.

Baidu said Tuesday that passengers will have the option to match themselves with an Apollo Go vehicle when booking an Uber Comfort or UberX taxi, or by selecting the “Autonomous” option in the Uber app.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bangalore; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)