China’s robotaxi fleet may almost triple this year compared to 2025, though customer resistance could hinder its rollout, analysts said.

Goldman Sachs predicted that China will have almost 15,000 robotaxis by the end of the year, putting the country ahead of the US in the race “to automate roads and highways,” Oilprice.com said. But while Chinese consumers had previously expressed openness to riding in autonomous vehicles, they have recently soured following a mass outage that caused at least 100 self-driving cars in Wuhan to stop mid-traffic, raising concerns over their safety.

Meanwhile, resistance to AI applications is growing in the world’s second-largest economy as worker fears of mass job culls rise.