A major system breakdown left passengers trapped inside autonomous vehicles amid busy traffic in Wuhan, China, marking the first reported mass failure of robotaxis in the country, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
Law enforcement officials in Wuhan revealed that over 100 driverless vehicles simultaneously shut down due to what they described as a “system malfunction,” though they provided no additional details about the cause. Authorities confirmed no one was hurt during the incident.
A rider described to Chinese news outlets how their autonomous vehicle suddenly stopped after making a turn. The vehicle’s display showed a message stating: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” When no help arrived, the passenger activated an emergency button and received assurance that assistance was coming. The individual managed to exit independently since the doors remained functional.
This represents China’s first documented widespread robotaxi shutdown. A similar incident occurred in San Francisco last December when numerous Waymo autonomous vehicles stopped operating due to an electrical outage.
The affected vehicles belong to Baidu, a prominent Chinese technology and artificial intelligence corporation that has been growing its Apollo Go autonomous taxi operations into European and Middle Eastern markets.
Company representatives from Baidu were not available for immediate response.
Law enforcement indicated that reports of stalled taxis began arriving around 9 p.m., with news sources confirming that several individuals required rescue assistance.
Some riders managed to leave their vehicles independently, while others remained inside because their taxis had stopped in center lanes of ring roads with traffic flowing around them, according to media accounts. These elevated roadways lack traffic signals and are designed for rapid urban transportation.
Baidu maintains several hundred robotaxis in Wuhan, where the company conducted early testing programs.
The corporation, which manages over 1,000 autonomous taxis primarily throughout China, launched operations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai this year and is collaborating with international partners to begin services in Britain and Switzerland.
