Baidu robotaxi outage in Wuhan caused by 'system failure'; details here

p>Beijing: A "system failure" caused ​a robotaxi outage involving multiple vehicles operated by Baidu's Apollo Go in central China's Wuhan, local police said on Wednesday, re-igniting safety concerns ⁠over the fast-growing service.

Police received reports late on Tuesday that ⁠numerous Apollo Go cars had stopped in ‌the middle of roads ​in Wuhan and were unable to move, according to an official statement.

Passengers were able to exit the vehicles safely and there were no injuries, police said. The cause of ​the incident is ⁠still under investigation.

At least 100 Apollo Go vehicles were affected, a traffic police officer said in a video published by Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper.

The ⁠officer ‌added that while the car doors could be opened, some passengers were hesitant to get ‌out because of heavy traffic and called police for assistance. Local media ⁠reported that some passengers were trapped inside the vehicles for nearly two hours.

Baidu did ‌not immediately respond to a request ‌for comment. The accident sparked renewed discussions on Chinese ‌social media about robotaxi safety and readiness.

An Apollo ‌Go robotaxi carrying a passenger fell into a construction pit in Chongqing in August, and in May one of the cars ⁠operated by ⁠Pony. ai caught fire on a road in Beijing. No injuries were reported in either incident.

A widespread power outage in San Francisco at the end of last year also caused Waymo robotaxis to stall and snarl traffic. Baidu is one of China's largest operators of ​autonomous driving fleets, alongside Pony. ai and WeRide.