Waymo rolls out software update after blackout

Waymo rolls out software update after blackout

Waymo is rolling out a fleet-wide software update after a large San Francisco energy outage uncovered a vital bottleneck in its autonomous system — forcing the Alphabet-owned company to halt robotaxi service as driverless vehicles stalled at darkened intersections across the metropolis.

The update is designed to assist Waymo’s self-driving software better acknowledge and reply to large-scale energy outages, permitting automobiles to maneuver by way of darkish intersections more decisively without overwhelming the company’s distant human help system, which obtained slowed down during the blackout.

The fix follows a weekend outage that knocked out electrical energy for almost a 3rd of San Francisco and disabled visitors alerts citywide, triggering gridlock and leaving a number of Waymo automobiles stopped or stationary in the center of busy streets.

A Waymo robotaxi sits stationary at a darkened San Francisco intersection after an influence outage knocked out visitors alerts across large components of the metropolis. AP

The blackout, sparked by a fireplace at a PG&E substation in the South of Market neighborhood, knocked out visitors alerts across large swaths of the metropolis on Saturday afternoon, creating gridlock that uncovered limits in Waymo’s autonomous system as a number of automobiles stopped or remained stationary in the center of busy streets.

Waymo said it proactively paused operations Saturday night as the outage intensified, with nonfunctioning visitors lights and transit disruptions overwhelming metropolis streets during one in all the busiest buying weekends of the 12 months.

Videos shared on social media confirmed a number of Waymo automobiles immobilized at intersections and alongside major corridors as energy failed citywide, including to congestion as police and fireplace crews had been deployed to manually handle visitors in affected neighborhoods.

At the peak of the outage, as many as 130,000 households — about 30% of the metropolis — misplaced electrical energy, knocking out alerts from downtown to the Richmond and Presidio and inflicting Waymo automobiles to cease at intersections just ahead of peak night visitors.

The company said it labored with San Francisco officers throughout the blackout, returning automobiles to depots or pulling them safely to the aspect of the street as emergency crews labored to revive order on streets the place visitors lights had been fully darkish.

Waymo suspended robotaxi service after a weekend blackout disabled visitors lights and left autonomous automobiles stalled at intersections citywide. Anadolu through Getty Images

Waymo resumed service Sunday night after energy was restored to most neighborhoods, though 1000’s of consumers remained without electrical energy and PG&E crews continued repairs into Monday following what the utility described as “significant and extensive” harm at the substation.

Waymo said its automobiles are designed to deal with darkish alerts as four-way stops, however acknowledged that the scale of the outage led to vehicles remaining stationary longer than common as they tried to substantiate intersection situations amid widespread sign failures.

The pause marked one in all the most seen disruptions yet for Waymo in its dwelling market, the place the company operates totally driverless ride-hailing at scale and has pitched its technology as able to dealing with complicated city situations without human intervention.

A driverless Waymo car waits at a nonfunctioning visitors sign during a large energy outage that snarled visitors across San Francisco. @brahmsstan through Storyful

Waymo has emerged as the main business robotaxi operator in the US, working totally driverless ride-hailing providers in 5 major cities and logging more than 100 million autonomous miles and over 14 million paid rides as of late 2025.

Its fleet of more than 1,500 automobiles operates at scale in markets including Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta, as the company pushes an aggressive expansion plan concentrating on more than two dozen further cities by the end of 2026.

Despite publishing data displaying sharply decrease crash charges than human drivers, Waymo has confronted mounting scrutiny following a collection of high-profile incidents, significantly in San Francisco.

Those embody collisions with cyclists and automobiles, animal fatalities, software-related visitors violations and disruptions tied to infrastructure failures.

The latest San Fran incident has intensified considerations among residents and some lawmakers about how autonomous automobiles deal with uncommon however predictable “edge cases,” such as large-scale energy outages.

Critics argue those situations expose limitations in current technology even as Waymo seeks fast progress.

The outage uncovered limits in Waymo’s autonomous system as automobiles stopped amid widespread infrastructure failures. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The company has said it’s reviewing classes from the outage while persevering with to scale its driverless service nationwide.

“We resumed ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday,” a Waymo spokesperson told The Post.

“Saturday’s power outage was a widespread event that caused gridlock across San Francisco, with non-functioning traffic signals and transit disruptions. While the failure of the utility infrastructure was significant, we are committed to ensuring our technology adjusts to traffic flow during such events.”

The spokesperson added that “throughout the outage, we closely coordinated with San Francisco city officials.”

“We are focused on rapidly integrating the lessons learned from this event, and are committed to earning and maintaining the trust of the communities we serve every day.”

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