Baidu Robotaxi Failure in Wuhan Raises Safety Questions

A large-scale failure of Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxis in Wuhan has stranded passengers and disrupted traffic, raising fresh concerns about the reliability of autonomous vehicles in real-world conditions. 

The outage triggered emergency responses and renewed scrutiny from regulators and industry observers as dozens to over a hundred driverless cars halted mid-journey during peak hours. 

The incident comes at a critical time for Baidu, which is expanding its robotaxi footprint beyond China through global partnerships. While no injuries were reported, the breakdown highlights the operational and safety challenges that still confront self-driving systems as they scale into dense urban environments. 

Sudden outage halts traffic across Wuhan

The South China Morning Post said the disruption began Tuesday evening when multiple Apollo Go vehicles stopped abruptly across major roads, including elevated expressways. 

Local authorities noted a surge in emergency calls as passengers found themselves stranded in traffic. 

“Phone calls for help from affected customers to the traffic police line in Wuhan surged from 8:57 pm CST,” the city’s transport authority said, according to SCMP. 

Police later said initial findings pointed to a “system malfunction” affecting a large number of vehicles. According to BBC reporting, at least 100 robotaxis were affected. 

Traffic congestion worsened as stalled vehicles blocked lanes, with social media footage showing cars stopped on ring roads and expressways. Some reports indicated minor collisions, though authorities confirmed no injuries. 

Passengers could open vehicle doors, but heavy traffic made it unsafe to exit, particularly on infrastructure designed for vehicles rather than pedestrians. 

Riders stranded highlight edge-case risks

Individual accounts underscored the disruption’s real-world impact. One rider described how their robotaxi stopped suddenly mid-trip on a busy roadway, leaving them stuck for an extended period. 

Without a human driver to intervene, passengers relied on remote support teams and emergency responders. Traffic police and Apollo Go staff were deployed to assist stranded rides and restore flow. 

Experts say incidents like this expose unique risks in autonomous systems.

“If we’re going to make good choices about this technology, we need to understand entirely new types of risk,” said Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London, speaking to BBC News.

For IT and operations leaders, the outage highlights the importance of resilience engineering. Autonomous fleets require robust failover systems, real-time diagnostics, and contingency protocols to prevent localized failures from escalating into citywide disruptions. 

Expansion plans face renewed scrutiny

Baidu operates its Apollo Go robotaxi service in multiple cities, primarily in China, and has been working to expand internationally. In December 2025, Uber and Lyft announced partnerships with Baidu to test Apollo Go vehicles in the UK, with pilot programs targeted for 2026 pending regulatory approvals. 

The Wuhan outage comes as those plans move forward. Authorities said the cause of the incident remains under investigation, and Baidu had not publicly responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting.

The disruption follows other incidents involving autonomous vehicles. Insurance Journal noted that in December last year, a power outage in San Francisco caused Waymo robotaxis to stall and block traffic, prompting the company to suspend service temporarily.

Read our coverage on Tesla’s recent robotaxi crash data for more context on the challenges facing autonomous fleets. 

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