China halts robotaxi expansion after Baidu outage stalls 100+ cars
What's the story
China has halted the issuance of new permits for autonomous vehicles, following a major incident involving Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxis in Wuhan last month. The sudden halt left over 100 cars stranded on city streets, causing major traffic disruptions and raising safety concerns among authorities. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) along with two other agencies held a meeting earlier this month with officials from cities that have robotaxis or autonomous-driving pilots.
Safety review
Regulators ask local governments to conduct thorough self-review
In light of the incident, regulators have asked local governments to conduct a thorough self-review and strengthen safety monitoring. The suspension of new permits will prevent self-driving companies from adding new robotaxis to their fleets or expanding operations into new cities. However, it is still unclear how long this suspension will remain in effect.
Market impact
Baidu's shares fell by up to 3.9%
Baidu's shares fell by as much as 3.9% in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday after the news of the license suspension broke. Other robotaxi providers such as Pony AI and WeRide also witnessed a decline of around 2%. The suspension comes as a major setback for an industry that is projected to be worth 83.1 billion yuan ($12.2 billion) by 2030, according to Soochow Securities analysis.
Ongoing probe
Baidu's robotaxi operations in Wuhan have been suspended
Baidu's robotaxi operations in Wuhan have been suspended while local authorities investigate the cause of the mass outage. The incident was likely caused by a systems fault, according to local police. Apollo Go is China's largest robotaxi provider with hundreds of vehicles operating in over a dozen cities.
Business continuity
Other major robotaxi firms confirm operations are normal
Despite the suspension of new permits, other major robotaxi firms such as Pony AI and WeRide have confirmed that their services are operating normally. "Pony.ai's robotaxi services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are currently operating normally," the company said. WeRide also assured that its "robotaxi services in China are still operating as normal" and are covering more than 1,000 square kilometers.