Baidu robotaxi outage raises safety concerns
A major outage involving self-driving cars operated by Baidu has disrupted traffic in the Chinese city of Wuhan, after a “system failure” caused dozens of robotaxis to suddenly stop in the middle of roads.
The incident, which affected at least 100 vehicles from Baidu’s Apollo Go fleet, occurred late Tuesday and quickly drew attention to the risks of rapidly expanding autonomous transport services, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
According to local police, multiple driverless cars became unresponsive and were unable to move, creating traffic disruptions across parts of the city.
Passengers were able to exit the vehicles safely, and no injuries were reported. However, some people reportedly remained inside for extended periods—up to two hours—due to concerns about stepping into heavy traffic.
The outage has reignited debate over the safety and reliability of robotaxi services, which are being rolled out at scale in several Chinese cities.
This is not the first such incident. Previous cases include a robotaxi falling into a construction pit and another catching fire—though both resulted in no casualties.
Globally, similar issues have also occurred. A power outage in San Francisco last year caused autonomous vehicles to stall and disrupt traffic, highlighting the broader challenges facing the technology.
Baidu is one of China’s leading players in autonomous driving, competing with firms like Pony.ai and WeRide.
These companies are rapidly expanding robotaxi services not only across China but also into international markets, including the Middle East.
Authorities say the cause of the system failure is still under investigation. The incident is likely to intensify scrutiny of safety standards as cities balance innovation with public trust in driverless technology.
As robotaxis become more common, ensuring reliability in real-world conditions remains a critical hurdle for the industry.
News.Az
By Aysel Mammadzada
