A 'system malfunction' has caused multiple self-driving robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in Wuhan, China, leaving passengers stranded for hours, local police have confirmed. The incident occurred on Tuesday night when authorities began receiving an influx of calls from riders reporting that autonomous vehicles operated by Baidu's Apollo Go service had frozen.
Police stated that several Apollo Go cars came to a halt and were unable to move, with preliminary investigations pointing to a system malfunction. Baidu, which operates a fleet of more than 500 driverless cars in Wuhan, did not specify how many vehicles were affected. One passenger recounted a 90-minute ordeal on an elevated highway, describing difficulty reaching customer service and being provided with 'useless platitudes' instead of practical solutions.
Social media footage showed riders attempting to contact the company via in-car tablets, with one video captioned: 'Apollo Go, are you paralysed?' The stranded passenger eventually had their order cancelled and was left on the overpass surrounded by dump trucks before being rescued. This is not the first issue with Baidu's robotaxis; last December, operations in Zhuzhou were suspended after an autonomous vehicle struck two pedestrians, leaving them in intensive care.
Baidu, often referred to as China's equivalent to Google, opened Apollo Go to the public in Beijing in late 2020 and now operates in designated areas across several Chinese cities. The company reported 3.4 million driverless rides in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 200% increase year-on-year. It has recently struck deals with ride-hailing apps Lyft and Uber to deploy its autonomous vehicles internationally. Baidu did not respond to a request for comment.
