‘System failure’ paralyzes Baidu robotaxis in China

Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxis experienced a significant malfunction in Wuhan, China, leaving passengers in some vehicles stranded for as long as two hours. This incident, confirmed by various media outlets and shared widely on social media, has raised concerns about the reliability of automated transportation. The precise cause of this system failure remains unclear, as Baidu has yet to provide a detailed explanation. However, local law enforcement indicated that the issue impacted at least 100 robotaxis, which became immobilized unexpectedly. In some instances, the vehicles halted in precarious locations, including high-speed lanes, posing potential safety risks, according to reports from Wired. Authorities are currently investigating the incident while Baidu has not issued any statements in response to inquiries from TechCrunch. As one of China's leading robotaxi services, Baidu has ambitions beyond its home market, having announced plans to introduce a fleet of over 1,000 autonomous vehicles in Dubai in the near future. This outage adds to a growing list of incidents that question the safety and reliability of robotaxi services, not only in China but globally. A similar disruption occurred last December in California, where a power outage affected traffic lights and caused Waymo vehicles to become immobilized as well.