In China, Baidu's robot taxis have been reported to suddenly stop in the middle of the road with passengers inside, causing collisions with following vehicles and leaving passengers trapped for up to two hours.



Baidu , a major Chinese technology company, experienced a system failure with its robot taxi service ' Apollo Go ,' leaving its vehicles stranded.

Baidu robotaxi outage in Wuhan caused by 'system failure', police say | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/baidu-robotaxi-outage-wuhan-caused-by-system-failure-police-say-2026-04-01/

'System failure' paralyzes Baidu robotaxis in China | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/01/system-failure-paralyzes-baidu-robotaxis-in-china/

In Wuhan, a city in central China, Baidu's robot taxi service, 'Apollo Go,' experienced a system failure, causing multiple vehicles to stop. Wuhan's local police announced the Apollo Go system failure on April 1, 2026, rekindling concerns about the safety of the rapidly growing robot taxi service.



According to local police, several Apollo Go robotaxis came in late on the night of March 31, 2026, after being stopped and unable to move in the middle of the road. The cause of the incident is still under investigation as of the time of writing.

A video released by Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper shows police officers explaining that at least 100 Apollo Go robotaxis were affected by a system failure. According to The Paper, although the doors of the robotaxis, which were unable to move due to the system failure, could be opened, some passengers hesitated to get out due to heavy traffic and sought assistance from the police.



According to reports from local Chinese media, some passengers were trapped inside the robotaxis for up to two hours.

The following video shows an Apollo Go robotaxi suddenly coming to a stop while driving on a highway and colliding with a vehicle following behind.




Videos of Apollo Go robot taxis getting stuck on the road were shared on BiliBili and Douyin , the Chinese version of TikTok.

Baidu's robot taxi 'Apollo Go' gets stranded on the road due to a system malfunction - YouTube


On X, a Chinese user posted, 'If you're frustrated because you made a mistake at work, you might want to think about the team that stopped the Apollo Go self-driving cars in the middle of the road throughout Wuhan,' mocking the commotion caused by Apollo Go in Wuhan.



Following this incident, discussions about the safety and maturity of robot taxis for practical use have reportedly intensified on Chinese social media.

In August 2025, an Apollo Go robotaxi fell into a hole at a construction site in Chongqing, China. In May, a robotaxi provided by another self-driving technology company, Pony.ai, caught fire on a street in Beijing. However, no injuries were reported in any of these incidents.

In late December 2025, when a massive power outage occurred in San Francisco, USA, Waymo's robot taxis became stuck at an intersection, causing a huge traffic jam.

Waymo temporarily suspends service in San Francisco after robotaxis become stranded due to power outage - GIGAZINE



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in Video,   Software,   Vehicle, Posted by logu_ii