China suspended the issuance of new Level 4 autonomous vehicle licenses nationwide. The freeze prevents companies from adding robotaxis, launching test projects, or expanding services to new cities.
Regulators have not disclosed how long the suspension will remain in effect. The action follows a March 2026 incident in Wuhan involving Baidu’s Apollo Go fleet.
Dozens of robotaxis suffered a system malfunction and stopped abruptly during the outage. The failure disrupted local traffic and left passengers stranded.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ordered local governments to conduct comprehensive safety reviews. Officials aim to prevent similar system failures before resuming permit issuance.