Baidu (BIDU) stock surged 5.15% in Monday's trading session, driven by a significant milestone achieved by its autonomous driving unit, Apollo Go. The company's shares rallied as investors reacted positively to news of Apollo Go's expanding market presence in the rapidly growing driverless car sector.

According to a CNBC report, Apollo Go has surpassed 250,000 fully driverless weekly ride orders as of October 31. This achievement puts Baidu's autonomous driving service on par with Alphabet's Waymo, which reported similar figures in April. The milestone underscores Baidu's strong position in the competitive autonomous vehicle market and suggests accelerating adoption of its driverless technology.

In addition to the impressive ride volume, Apollo Go's safety record has also caught investors' attention. The company revealed that there has been only one airbag deployment for every 10.1 million kilometers driven, with no major accidents involving human injury or death reported so far. This safety performance is likely to boost confidence in Baidu's autonomous driving technology and could pave the way for further expansion and regulatory approvals in the future.