Baidu Maps reports brief service outage amid autonomous driving push on Chinese roads
- The service breakdown came as Baidu pursues rapid expansion of its autonomous driving business through the mapping software
The map service operated by Baidu reported a brief service breakdown on Wednesday afternoon, according to its users and customer service staff, causing small disruptions to the growing number of smart vehicle operations that rely on the app.
The outage was fixed by around 4pm the same day, according to Chinese media National Business Daily. That came after Baidu Maps told Chinese media Economic View that there was a hiccup in the system, without providing details.
A representative for Baidu Maps issued a statement on Wednesday saying that “some Baidu Maps servers were briefly non-operational [on the afternoon of August 7]. The issue has now been fully resolved”.
Baidu did not elaborate on why the app experienced a sudden breakdown and how many users were affected.
After the outage hit, a number of users of Baidu Maps took to Chinese social media to report a service breakdown, affecting various features including navigation and ride-hailing service. “I was about to drive onto the elevated road when the app suddenly went out of service,” said Guangdong-based Weibo user Liamkkong, adding that he ended up taking a wrong turn and took an extra 10 minutes to get to his destination.
