China suspends new robotaxi licenses after Baidu scandal

China suspends new licenses for autonomous vehicles, Bloomberg reportsto name unnamed persons familiar with the matter. The move comes after a series of robotaxis launches by Chinese tech giant Baidu it has stopped traffic for the last month in Wuhan, creating chaos.

The restrictions will prevent companies from adding driverless cars to their fleet, expanding into new cities, or starting new pilot projects. It is not known when the authorities will resume issuing new licences.

Bloomberg said the incident in Wuhan shocked Beijing officials, prompting the authorities to urge governments to review the sector to prevent similar incidents. It was the second time authorities had intervened after an incident involving Baidu, the report said, and the company’s operations in Wuhan would have been halted while authorities investigated the matter.