Baidu (BIDU, Financials) said Friday that it will deploy 1,000 autonomous vehicles in Dubai over the next three years as part of a partnership with the citys Roads and Transport Authority.

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The deal is Apollo Go's first business use outside of China and Hong Kong. It also brings the mission to the Middle East. The business plans to start up with 100 fully driverless RT6 robotaxis by the end of 2025 and increase the number of cars to at least 1,000 by 2028.The RT6 model is Baidu's sixth-generation self-driving car and was made especially for driverless ride-hailing. The company says that Apollo Go has driven more than 150 million kilometers and done more than 10 million rides in China.Baidu got Hong Kong's first license to test self-driving cars in November 2024, which led to the growth. Soon after, Apollo Go started testing in the city. This was its first move into the right-hand-drive market.Baidu said that the Dubai rollout will start with testing the car system in crowded cities to see how well it works in those kinds of traffic situations. The company also said that all of its operations would be governed by local laws and would be suited to the city's transportation system.Dubai wants 25% of its transportation to be self-driving by 2030. The government has pushed for this goal through test projects and new rules. Yunpeng Wang, vice president and head of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group, said in a statement that the relationship fits with both companies' plans to make self-driving cars more common.One month ago, Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, met with local leaders at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. This news comes one month after that. The company said that the deal shows that the UAE government backs technology that lets cars drive themselves.