French media reported that the large-scale deployment of AI is disrupting China's labor market and featured the case of drivers whose income fell amid problems involving self-driving taxis in Wuhan. It also reported on debate over the rising share of non-standard workers and the government's response.
The Chinese-language website of French international broadcaster RFI said the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence is further disrupting China's already vulnerable labor market. It referred to trouble involving the self-driving taxi service Apollo Go (蘿蔔快跑) in Wuhan in March this year, explaining that several vehicles became stranded on the road and left passengers trapped inside for several hours.
It has been reported that one taxi driver's income fell 40% from before Apollo Go began operating. The driver said the impact of self-driving taxis was too great, and the report said debate was spreading in China over whether to accept or resist the expansion of AI use.
In China, the number of people currently engaged in non-standard work has reached 320 million, accounting for 44% of the working population. The report also cited claims that the spread of self-driving taxis is threatening drivers' incomes and said that drivers and others in Wuhan reportedly protested in 2024, although it also noted that scrutiny of the information made it difficult to determine the scale of the protests.
Meanwhile, it reported that editorials in Chinese media had sounded the alarm over workers' rights in the AI era as a new challenge, and that the government was being credited with beginning to acknowledge some of the concerns. On the technology front, the report highlighted job creation following the success of Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek, while also covering reports of compensation rulings and working conditions in the film industry.