Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis stall mid-road in Wuhan
Multiple Apollo Go robotaxis operated by Chinese internet group Baidu came to a halt in the middle of roads in Wuhan on Tuesday night following what authorities described as a system malfunction. Wuhan police confirmed they began receiving calls from stranded riders in rapid succession, with passengers reporting that the autonomous vehicles had frozen and would not move.
At least one highway collision resulted from the stalled vehicles, according to reports circulated on Chinese social media and cited by CNBC. Passengers were trapped inside the cars for as long as two hours, according to TechCrunch.
Riders who contacted Apollo Go's customer service during the incident said agents provided what they described as useless platitudes rather than any practical resolution, according to The Guardian. The failure left occupants with no means of exiting or overriding the vehicles' autonomous systems in a timely manner.
The incident is a significant operational embarrassment for Baidu, which has positioned Apollo Go as a leading commercial robotaxi service and has been expanding its driverless fleet across Chinese cities. It is likely to invite renewed scrutiny from Chinese regulators over the safety protocols and fail-safe mechanisms governing fully autonomous vehicles operating on public roads.
