“So then, what exactly is the SOS for?”
Some passengers remained in their Baidu robotaxis for nearly two hours while they waited for help. Photo / Byron_Wan
A video verified by Reuters was posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, showing vehicles stopped on a highway, blocking traffic.
The vehicles were travelling normally when they abruptly stopped and displayed a message on screen: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.”
The Daily Mail reported the cars had stalled on a major road that operates without traffic lights – a design intended to keep traffic moving at speed.
Car doors could open but the people inside were too scared to get out because of speeding traffic and called the cops for assistance, a police officer told the Paper, a Shanghai-based newspaper.
The robotaxis are operated by Chinese technology company Baidu, which uses artificial intelligence to control the vehicles without a human driver.
Passengers did not feel safe to leave the cars on the busy motorway. Photo / Byron_Wan
Baidu operates more than 1000 robotaxis, mostly in China. The company has not commented on the incident.
A Baidu taxi fell into a construction site in Chongqing in August 2025 with a passenger inside.
In May 2025, a car run by Pony.ai caught fire on a road in Beijing, the Daily Mail reported.