Wuhan halted as 100 Baidu robotaxis malfunction
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- Police in Wuhan reported that a system malfunction caused at least 100 Apollo Go robotaxes to stop in the middle of traffic on Tuesday.
- Social media videos captured the outage, showing a possible highway collision, though police confirmed no injuries and passengers exited safely.
- Baidu has not yet commented on the incident, while its Apollo Go service operates in dozens of cities worldwide, primarily in China.
- Uber announced a partnership with Baidu in December 2025 to test Apollo Go cars on UK roads, aiming for 2026 trials pending regulator approval, with Lyft also involved.
- Jack Stilgoe, a University College London professor of science and technology policy, said the incident shows driverless tech can still fail in “completely new ways” despite average safety benefits.
- Waymo taxis were halted by a large power outage in San Francisco in December 2025, and an Apollo Go robotaxi fell into a construction pit in Chongqing in August 2025, indicating prior technical challenges.
Why it matters: The outage erodes public confidence in Baidu's Apollo Go fleet, pressuring regulators and potentially delaying the company’s expansion and the planned Uber/Lyft UK trials, while competitors like Waymo may gain a credibility edge. The incident also highlights the need for more robust safety protocols, which could increase operational costs for driverless services.
