A number of Baidu Inc.’s Apollo Go robotaxis suddenly stopped on the streets of China’s Wuhan city on Tuesday, trapping passengers in vehicles and raising concerns about the safety and reliability of autonomous driving technology.
Wuhan police received multiple reports of Apollo Go vehicles stuck in the middle of roads and unable to move, authorities said in a Weibo statement. It’s unclear how many vehicles were affected, but police said a preliminary assessment indicates that the problem was due to a system fault.
Officers worked with Baidu employees to respond to the situation, authorities said. Baidu didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. Apollo Go is the largest robotaxi provider in China, with hundreds of vehicles in more than a dozen cities, and is ramping up an international expansion.
Passengers were able to exit cars safely and no injuries were reported, according to the police, but at least one Wuhan resident said he was stuck in a robotaxi for nearly two hours.
Luka, who asked not to be identified by his full name due to privacy concerns, said the Apollo Go robotaxi he was riding in stopped suddenly on an expressway about 15 minutes into his journey on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old livestreamer managed to contact customer service after more than a dozen attempted calls over 30 minutes and they asked him to remain in the car.
After staying in the robotaxi for an hour, and unable to exit safely due to traffic, he called the police, who arranged for someone to drive the car to a safe location where he was able to leave the vehicle, he said. Bloomberg contacted Luka after he posted videos of his experience on social media.
The system malfunction marks a rare incident of this scale for China’s growing robotaxi industry, but likely adds to scrutiny facing the sector globally as more cities roll out driverless cars.
Late last year, a number of Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo robotaxis stalled mid-ride due to a power outage in San Francisco, stranding passengers in cars.
Photograph: A Baidu robotaxi in Wuhan. Photo credit: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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