System Malfunction Paralyzes Baidu Robotaxis in Wuhan
More than 100 Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis stalled in Wuhan after a reported system malfunction, leaving passengers stranded and prompting an ongoing investigation.
TechCrunch'System failure' paralyzes Baidu robotaxis in China | TechCrunch
The Guardian‘System malfunction’ causes robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China
New York PostRobotaxi passengers left stranded in dangerous traffic after outage hits more than 100 driverless vehicles
SemaforMajor outage hits Chinese robotaxis firm
Overview
Police in Wuhan said more than 100 Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis stalled in traffic after a "system malfunction," leaving passengers stranded.
Social media videos showed stalled cars and apparent collisions, prompting a preliminary investigation that police attributed to a system malfunction.
Police said they received multiple calls from riders who reported long waits, difficulty reaching customer service, and rescues by others, according to media reports and social posts.
Baidu operates hundreds of robotaxis in Wuhan and more than 1,000 largely in China, and reported 3.4 million driverless rides in the fourth quarter of 2025, company filings show.
Officials said the cause remained under further investigation, and the outage follows earlier incidents including a December 2025 San Francisco power outage that halted Waymo cars and an August 2025 Chongqing accident.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story around safety risks by amplifying alarming language (e.g., 'suffered an outage', 'left passengers stranded') and privileging social media and WIRED accident reports. Editorial choices downplay company explanations and relegate expansion news to the end, producing a cautious, risk-focused narrative rather than a neutral technology update.