Mass robotaxi malfunction halts traffic in Chinese city

Baidu has not responded to a request for comment about the outage, which affected at least 100 cars.

A major outage involving Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi fleet in Wuhan, China, caused significant traffic disruption as numerous autonomous vehicles abruptly stopped operating mid-journey. The issue, reportedly due to a system failure, stranded passengers for hours, with some unable to reach customer service promptly. Dashcam footage shared on social media shows one of the stalled robotaxis being rear-ended on a highway, highlighting the safety implications of such failures. Although no injuries were reported, the incident sparked criticism about the readiness of fully autonomous vehicles. Experts, including those from University College London, noted the need to better understand the unique risks of driverless technology. This malfunction could potentially hinder upcoming international trials, including planned UK road tests with Uber and Lyft. The Baidu outage is part of a broader trend, with similar issues previously reported in other autonomous fleets like Waymo and Tesla, raising ongoing questions about reliability and safety in the sector.

On April 1, 2026, a major system malfunction caused over 100 Baidu-operated robotaxis to shut down in Wuhan, China, stranding passengers in fast-moving traffic, according to police and media reports. Although no injuries were reported, the incident led to significant safety concerns, especially as some vehicles stopped in the middle lanes of elevated ring roads. While some passengers were able to exit the vehicles on their own, others were hesitant due to traffic risks. One rider reported that their taxi stopped after turning a corner and displayed a message indicating a malfunction, but staff assistance was delayed. This is the first large-scale outage of autonomous taxis reported in China. Baidu, a leading internet and AI company, is expanding its Apollo Go robotaxi services internationally, with active operations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and plans in progress for the UK and Switzerland. Baidu has not yet issued a public comment on the incident. The malfunction draws comparisons to a similar situation in San Francisco in December, where Waymo's self-driving cars halted due to a power outage.

Robotaxis operated by Baidu’s Apollo Go stalled throughout Wuhan, China, in some cases trapping passengers for up to two hours, according to multiple media reports as well as numerous video and social media posts. Baidu has not shared what caused the widespread outage. However, local police said it was a “system failure” that affected at least 100 robotaxis, Reuters reported. The unknown technical error caused robotaxis to suddenly freeze — and sometimes in dangerous spots such as the fast lane of roadways, according to Wired. Police are still investigating the matter. Baidu did not respond to TechCrunch’s emailed request for comment. Baidu is one of the largest robotaxi operators in China and has expanded to the Middle East. Last year, the company said it planned to deploy a fleet of more than 1,000 autonomous vehicles in Dubai over the next few years. The recent Baidu outage is the latest incident to raise questions about the safety of robotaxis and their impact on local communities. And it’s not just isolated to China. A widespread power outage in California last December wiped out traffic lights, causing Waymo vehicles to become stuck.

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