Baidu Apollo Go Receives Level 4 Permission in Switzerland — European Debut

Baidu robotaxis have entered European roads for the first time: the joint venture AmiGo has received a special permit from Switzerland's Federal Roads Authority for Level 4 autonomous driving.

Who is AmiGo

AmiGo is a joint venture between Apollo Go, a division of Chinese tech giant Baidu, and PostBus, a subsidiary of Swiss Post. PostBus operates bus routes in rural and mountainous regions of the country — precisely where conventional taxis are rare and public transportation logistics are most complex. The partnership makes sense. Apollo Go possesses the technologies and millions of autonomous trips. PostBus has an extensive route network and established relationships with regulators. Together they target the niche where traditional transportation operates with the greatest difficulty.

What Level 4 Means in Practice

The permit was issued under the SAE Level 4 standard. To understand the difference:

• Level 3 — the car drives itself, but the driver must intervene if the system requests it within a few seconds
• Level 4 — the car fully controls itself within a designated geographic zone; human intervention is not required at all
• Level 5 — complete autonomy everywhere under any conditions (not yet achieved by anyone)

The permit is valid only on pre-approved routes with the regulator. Standard procedure: the company maps the area, conducts tests, proves safety — and gains the right to operate here. Public testing began on June 1, 2026.

Apollo Go: Scale and Ambitions

Apollo Go is one of Baidu's fastest-scaling autonomous transportation divisions. By the end of 2025, the company had completed over seven million paid trips within China. Commercial services operate in eleven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. In Wuhan, fully driverless rides have already launched — without a safety operator on board. The entry into Switzerland marks Apollo Go's first operation outside China. For Baidu, this proves that the technological foundation accumulated in the domestic market is applicable under completely different conditions — legal, climatic, infrastructural.

Why Switzerland Specifically

Mountainous terrain, snow, fog, and non-standard intersections make the country one of the toughest testing grounds for autonomous driving systems. If robotaxis succeed in the Alps — that's a strong argument in negotiations with regulators in other European countries. At the same time, Swiss legislation on autonomous vehicles is considered among the most progressive on the continent: FEDRO approved public road testing as early as 2021. PostBus, meanwhile, is no stranger to experiments — the company launched driverless electric buses on mountain resorts back in 2018. The partnership with Baidu is a logical continuation of this strategy.

What This Means

Baidu Apollo Go is the first major Asian player to enter the European robotaxi market with an official regulatory permit. For public transportation operators, this is simultaneously a signal of competition and a potential opportunity: partnership with a ready-made, scalable platform instead of multi-year in-house development.