Baidu also announced that it is partnering with BAIC Group's electric vehicle (EV) brand ARCFOX to develop Apollo Moon, EV robotaxis that are set to be mass-produced at a cost of 480,000 yuan ($74,766.36) per unit.

The duo will produce 1,000 Apollo Moon EVs in the next three years, Baidu told a press conference in Beijing.

($1 = 6.4200 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yingzhi Yang and Tony Munroe; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)