Waymo's self-driving taxi operations have restarted in San Francisco following a citywide power failure that left vehicles immobilized, according to CNBC. The incident stemmed from a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation, leading to malfunctions in traffic signals that impacted the company's driverless technology.
"The power failure yesterday created extensive congestion throughout San Francisco, including broken traffic lights and interruptions to public transportation," a Waymo representative stated to Engadget. "Although the breakdown in power supply was major, our focus remains on adapting our systems to manage vehicle movement in these circumstances."
The blackout started shortly after 1:09 PM on Saturday and reached its worst point about two hours afterward, prompting Waymo to pause its passenger transport offerings in the area. Social media posts featuring photos and clips revealed the robotaxis halted at crossroads with their emergency flashers activated.
Waymo attributed the interruption to the outage's magnitude. "Our Waymo Driver technology is built to handle inoperative lights by assuming four-way stop conditions, but the extensive nature of this event resulted in some cars pausing extended periods to assess intersection conditions. This added to road delays at the peak of the jam," the representative noted, emphasizing that the company's measures involved tight collaboration with San Francisco authorities.
Nevertheless, the temporary shutdown represents a setback for Waymo, since it worsened the gridlock already triggered by the power loss. On X, Elon Musk boasted that Tesla—Waymo's recent competitor in the local robotaxi market—experienced no issues from the blackout. That said, Tesla's passenger service still relies on human operators in the driver's seat and lacks full autonomy.