Baidu robotaxis reportedly halted mid-traffic causing crashes in Wuhan, China

A Baidu Inc. Apollo Go autonomous driving electric vehicle displayed at the International Automotive and Supply Chain Expo in Hong Kong, June 12, 2025.Chan Long Hei | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBaidu's Apollo Go robotaxis reportedly stopped mid-traffic, trapping passengers and resulting in highway collisions on the streets of the Chinese city of Wuhan on Tuesday, according to videos shared on social media.The incident was confirmed by a statement published on the official Weibo account of the Wuhan local traffic police department, which acknowledged reports of multiple Apollo Go vehicles that stalled in the middle of a road."Upon investigation, preliminary findings suggest system malfunctions as the cause of the incident," read the police department's statement in Chinese, translated by CNBC. The statement added that authorities had worked with Apollo Go staff to handle the initial situation, with the incident still undergoing further investigation. Passengers had safely exited the affected vehicles, it added.Chinese search giant Baidu, which owns and operates Apollo Go, did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.Wuhan city is home to Apollo Go's largest robotaxi deployment in China, with more than 1,000 vehicles operating without human drivers.Baidu has invested in and ramped up its driverless ride-hailing unit much like its U.S. counterpart Alphabet has invested in and ramped up robotaxi service Waymo in the western part of the U.S.. Both have grown into leading robotaxi providers in an emerging industry that's recently tipped into the mainstream.Apollo Go also faces formidable competition from other Chinese autonomous vehicle makers in Asia, including WeRide and Pony.AI. Elon Musk's automaker Tesla is also developing driverless vehicles but is not yet operating a commercial robotaxi service outside of a limited pilot in Austin, Texas.Apollo Go already operates a commercial, driverless ride-hailing service in several major Chinese cities, including the entire city of Wuhan and the suburbs of Beijing. In its fourth-quarter earnings update for 2025, Baidu said Apollo Go driverless vehicles are now deployed or testing in 26 international cities.In the fourth quarter of 2025, Baidu said Apollo Go "delivered 3.4 million fully driverless operational rides," with weekly rides surpassing 300,000 during peak weeks of the quarter. In the West, Baidu's robotaxi brand has formed partnerships with ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft to pilot autonomous vehicles in London. In the Middle East, Apollo Go launched fully autonomous ride-hailing services in Abu Dhabi with AutoGo. It also obtained the first fully driverless testing permit in Dubai, and in recent days began offering its robotaxis via the Uber app there, CNEVpost reported this week.Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Apollo Go incidents reported in Wuhan and whether its Dubai fleet may be impacted.In December, a power outage in San Francisco caused autonomous vehicle operator Waymo's robotaxi fleet to stall across the city.Baidu boasts that its Apollo Go autonomous vehicles have driven "300 million autonomous kilometers," already, including over 190 million kilometers with no human safety supervisor on board in the vehicles. Chinese robotaxi operators have typically claimed the rides have yet to result in major human injuries, but have provided less information on crashes.While Chinese regulators have not responded to the incident, a group of experts from the China Insurance Industry Association are reportedly finalizing plans to specify insurance terms and products for driverless vehicles as the country moves to expand the use of the technology, according to a Monday report by Yicai Global.Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.