‘System malfunction’ causes robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China

Several Apollo Go robotaxis – one of which is pictured here – stalled in the middle of traffic due to a system failure Photograph: Social Media/Reuters

A “system malfunction” has caused several self-driving robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China, police have confirmed, after distressed riders were stranded for hours.

Local authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said they began receiving calls “one after another” on Tuesday night from riders reporting that autonomous vehicles operated by the Chinese internet company Baidu had frozen.