Baidu unveils Apollo World, an agent-driven world model for physical AI

The Chinese tech giant also proposed a new '2+3' standard for judging world models at its AI Day in Shenzhen Baidu wants its robotaxis to do more of their learning inside a simulation. At its AI Day in Shenzhen on November 3, 2026, the company introduced Apollo World, which it describes as an agent-driven multimodal world model built for physical AI. Baidu also proposed a new way to grade this kind of technology: a ‘2+3’ evaluation standard for world models. What Baidu actually announced Apollo World debuted during the Apollo session of Baidu AI Day. Apollo is the company’s autonomous driving brand, and the new model sits squarely inside that business. The model is already integrated into Apollo Go, Baidu’s robotaxi service, which has been tested globally. Inside Apollo Go, the system handles verification and simulation across what Baidu frames as infinite virtual scenarios. The engine behind Apollo World draws on data gathered from more than 350 million kilometers of real-world testing by Apollo Go. That driving history gives the model a large library of actual road behavior to learn from before it starts inventing new situations. Why ‘agent-driven’ is the key phrase A world model...