Baidu’s new AI simulator gives robotaxis a crash course in rare road hazards

The Chinese tech giant Baidu has developed a new AI-driven simulator to prepare its Apollo robotaxis for rare but high-stakes road hazards.

The system, Apollo World, can build complete virtual journeys from scratch, allowing the company to prepare vehicles for scenarios that are difficult to capture safely in real-world testing.

According to executives, the simulator can test the skills of even the most experienced human drivers in scenarios such as an errant cyclist darting through a red light or an animal bolting into oncoming traffic from behind a corner.