Let $γ_1,γ_2$ be a pair of constant-degree irreducible algebraic curves in $\mathbb{R}^d$. Assume that $γ_i$ is neither contained in a hyperplane nor in a quadric surface in $\mathbb{R}^d$, for each $i=1,2$. We show that for every pair of $n$-point sets $P_1\subsetγ_1$ and $P_2\subsetγ_2$, the number of distinct distances spanned by $P_1\times P_2$ is $Ω(n^{3/2})$, with a constant of proportionality that depends on ${\rm deg}γ_1$, ${\rm deg}γ_2$, and $d$. This extends earlier results of Charalambides [Char], Pach and De Zeeuw [PdZ], and Raz [Ra] to the bipartite version. For the proof we use rigidity theory, and in particular the description of Bolker and Roth [BR80] for realizations in $\mathbb{R}^d$ of the complete bipartite graph $K_{m,n}$ that are not infinitesimally rigid.