Industrial robot boom

CHINA produced 76,300 industrial robots in September, up 28.3% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. From January to September, output reached 595,000 units, already surpassing last year’s total. The growth reflects rising automation demand in automotive, electronics, and new energy sectors. China’s installed industrial robot base is now among the largest globally.

Apollo Go rivals Waymo

BAIDU said its Apollo Go robotaxi service logged over 250,000 fully driverless weekly rides as of Oct. 31.

This figure matches the weekly paid rides reported by Alphabet’s Waymo in the U.S. earlier this year. The service operates mainly in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and is expanding to Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Switzerland. Apollo Go has handled 17 million ride orders to date, covering 240 million kilometers and logging 140 million fully driverless rides. Baidu reported an average of one airbag deployment per 10.1 million kilometers, with no major accidents leading to injury or death.