There have been rumors that Chinese Internet giant Baidu was planning to invest in the U.S.-based taxi service Uber, and a Baidu spokesman has essentially confirmed these rumors with multiple media outlets on Friday.

The unidentified spokesman has confirmed with tech publications including TechCrunch and Tech in Asia that the company will hold a press conference next week to announce "an investment in and strategic cooperation deal with a prominent U.S.-based startup."

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Although details on the potential partnership are currently unknown, Baidu's investment into Uber could be as much as $600 million, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Chinese taxi app services Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache currently dominate the taxi app market in China, and are being invested in by other Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba. Didi Dache secured a $700 million investment just last week, as over 150 million people in China use taxi apps, Analysis International reports. 

It seems logical that Baidu would seek a partnership with Uber for further expansion beyond China, and at the same time would get the company's foot in the door into the ever-growing transportation app market.

But some are questioning whether the potential partnership is worth the risk following Uber's recent troubles in India where an Uber driver with prior history of sexual assault reportedly raped a passenger. The incident caused many Indian cities to ban the taxi service altogether, and has also spurred the other parts of the world to ban the service, including Thailand and Spain.

Despite the bans however, Uber was recently valued at a total of over $40 billion while continuing to grow, and has raised 1.2 billion in funding last month alone. 

TagsUber, taxi service, transportation app, Chinese internet giants