Beijing (AFP) – A string of self-driving robotaxis owned by Chinese internet giant Baidu stalled in central China, stranding passengers after an apparent “system malfunction,” police said Wednesday.
Local authorities in Wuhan, Hubei province, began receiving calls “one after another” on Tuesday night about “multiple Apollo Go cars stopped in the middle of the road, unable to move,” police said in a statement. Apollo Go is Baidu’s driverless taxi service which began charging for rides in Beijing in 2021 and operates in designated areas across several cities.
“After investigation, preliminary findings suggest the cause was system malfunction,” police added, without specifying how many cars were impacted. Social media users shared videos of themselves attempting to contact customer service from inside their stalled robotaxis as other vehicles passed by. “Apollo Go, are you paralysed?” one person wrote on social media, alongside a video of unanswered calls to the company dialled from an in-car tablet. The light green Apollo Go logo was visible on the steering wheel. The social media user said they were “stuck” in the middle of the road for more than 30 minutes.
Baidu did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment. The company has announced deals to have its cars on popular rideshare apps Lyft and Uber and is seeking to expand its presence outside China. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Apollo Go delivered 3.4 million driverless rides, with total rides increasing over 200 percent compared to the same period a year prior, according to company filings. The company has a fleet of more than 500 driverless cars in Wuhan.
© 2024 AFP
