Authorities in Wuhan revealed that a preliminary assessment suggests over 100 autonomous taxis ceased operation due to a “system malfunction.” The police statement did not provide additional details, and fortunately, no injuries were reported.

One rider shared with Chinese media that their vehicle abruptly stopped after navigating a corner.

A message displayed on the car’s screen stated: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.”

When assistance did not arrive promptly, the passenger activated the SOS feature and was informed that help was en route. With the ability to open the door manually, the passenger exited the vehicle independently.

This incident marks the first notable shutdown of robotaxis in China. Previously, in December, numerous Waymo self-driving cars stalled in San Francisco due to a power failure.

The affected taxis in Wuhan are operated by Baidu, a leading Chinese tech firm focused on internet services and artificial intelligence, which is currently expanding its Apollo Go robotaxi service across Europe and the Middle East.

Baidu did not have any immediate comment.

Police said reports that taxis were coming to a halt started coming in around 9pm, while media reports said multiple people were rescued.

While some passengers were able to exit their taxis on their own, others were afraid to get out because their vehicle had stopped in the middle lane of a ring road with other vehicles passing on both sides, the reports said. Ring roads are elevated roads without traffic lights designed to move traffic quickly in urban areas.

Baidu operates hundreds of robotaxis in Wuhan, which hosted an early pilot project for the company.

The company, which operates more than 1000 robotaxis, mostly in China, started a service in Abu Dhabi and Dubai this year and is working with partners to launch service in Britain and Switzerland.

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