Baidu robotaxis stop mid-traffic, triggering crashes in Wuhan, China

Baidu's Apollo Go self-driving cars came to a halt in traffic, trapping riders and leading to road accidents in Wuhan, China on Tuesday, as seen in videos circulated on social media.

The event was verified by a statement shared on the official Weibo of the Wuhan local traffic police, confirming that multiple Apollo Go cars stopped on the street.

"Preliminary investigation points to system glitches causing the incident," stated the police announcement in Chinese, as translated by CNBC.

The statement continued that efforts had been made with Apollo Go staff to address the initial problem, with further investigation ongoing. All passengers safely left the vehicles, it noted.

China's search leader Baidu, in operation of Apollo Go, hasn't yet replied to CNBC's request for comment.

The city of Wuhan houses the largest Apollo Go fleet in China, with over 1,000 cars running without drivers.

Baidu has significantly invested in and expanded its autonomous ride service comparable to the efforts by its US equivalent Alphabet via robotaxi service Waymo in the western US.

Both have emerged as leading providers in a burgeoning industry that's starting to gain mainstream traction.

Apollo Go faces stiff competition from other Asian autonomous vehicle companies like WeRide and Pony.AI.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk's firm Tesla is working on driverless technology, though not yet running a widespread commercial robotaxi service, except for a small pilot in Austin, Texas.

Apollo Go also offers a commercial, autonomous ride service in numerous large Chinese locales, completely covering Wuhan and parts of Beijing.

Baidu's fourth-quarter financial results for 2025 reveal Apollo Go driverless cars are either operational or undergoing trials in 26 global cities.

During the final quarter of 2025, Baidu reported Apollo Go completed "3.4 million rides without a driver," with weekly rides exceeding 300,000 at peak periods.

In the western regions, Baidu's robotaxi brand formed alliances with ride-share leaders like Uber and Lyft for testing autonomous vehicles in London.