Baidu (BIDU) said Tuesday its Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing platform and Lyft's (LYFT) FREENOW mobility platform have begun road testing self-driving vehicles in London.

The initial trials using a sixth-generation self-driving vehicle will take place in Brent with safety operators onboard, with plans to open the service to public passengers in 2027, the company said.

Baidu said the RT6 autonomous vehicles will operate alongside FREENOW's existing network of taxis and private hire vehicles.

The London rollout follows the recent approval of a fully driverless trial permit for the platform in Hong Kong, Baidu said.

Shares of the company were down 1.2% in Tuesday premarket activity.