The democratizing possibilities of such services have not gone unnoticed by China's censors.
Equipped with lidar censors, cameras, and GPS antenna, the buses can avoid hitting pedestrians, vehicles and barriers, safely change lanes and stop at designated sites.
Nor can it easily send the information back to ordinary Russians and Chinese, as China, in particular, censors the internet.
At first glance, the new Harry Potter prequel "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" hardly seems tailor-made for Chinese audiences, especially given its elements of witchcraft and the supernatural — which can be a deal breaker for China's state censors.
Google is actually one of the world's biggest Internet censors.
Government censors have permitted the 104-minute film to stream on major internet portals while Chen Jining, environmental protection minister, said on Sunday he had texted Ms Chai to thank her for a film "worthy of admiration".
He tested the limits of the censors along the way.