How long were robotaxis suddenly stranded in China by a system malfunction?

Here’s a good reminder that technology isn’t infallible. Passengers in multiple self-driving taxis in the Chinese city of Wuhan became stranded on Tuesday night when the vehicles suddenly stopped. The Apollo Go cars, operated by Internet company Baidu, apparently experienced a “system malfunction” that caused them to become frozen and unresponsive.

Riders on board the vehicles reported being stranded for hours, in some cases in the middle of the highway, before they were rescued. Local authorities said calls for help began pouring in “one after another” when the stranded passengers were unable to get help from Apollo Go. One customer said their vehicle froze on an overpass at 9 p.m., and after multiple calls to Apollo Go, only some of which got through, their request was canceled at 10:30 p.m. and they were still stuck.

Some other riders shared videos of the incident on social media, including one who was unable to reach Apollo Go even from an in-car tablet. Baidu has a fleet of more than 500 self-driving vehicles in Wuhan, but it did not reveal how many vehicles were affected.