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Videos quickly spread across social media showing Waymo robotaxis frozen in intersections, hazard lights flashing, while traffic backed up around them. In some locations, as many as five robotaxis sat motionless together, effectively shutting down entire city blocks.
Instead of adapting, the vehicles became obstacles.
San Francisco resident Matt Schoolfield personally witnessed the chaos unfold.
“They were just stopping in the middle of the street,” Schoolfield told reporters.
For hours, the vehicles did nothing. From early evening until nearly 10 p.m., human drivers were forced to navigate around stalled robotaxis that appeared incapable of responding to basic road conditions.
Software Overload Left Robotaxis Paralyzed
Waymo attempted damage control after the incident, admitting the blackout overwhelmed its system.
Waymo spokesperson Suzanne Philion acknowledged the outage “overwhelmed” the company’s software.
The vehicles are designed to treat dark traffic signals as four-way stops. But Philion explained that the scale of the outage pushed the system past its limits, leaving cars “stationary longer than expected” while they attempted to confirm intersection status.
In plain English, the cars froze.
They blocked traffic at the exact moment a major city needed roads moving smoothly.
Waymo was forced to suspend service Saturday night and into Sunday as it scrambled to retrieve vehicles and coordinate with city officials.
Elon Musk Highlighted the Human Factor
The blackout quickly caught the attention of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by the SF power outage,” Musk posted on X.
That statement came with an important caveat.
Tesla does not operate fully driverless robotaxis in San Francisco. Vehicles using Tesla’s FSD Supervised system still require a human behind the wheel. When the lights went out, humans stepped in.
Waymo’s cars had no such backup.
That difference mattered.
Experts Warn Cities Are Not Ready
Transportation experts say the incident raises serious questions about deploying autonomous vehicles at scale.
Bryan Reimer of MIT’s Center for Transportation did not mince words.
“Something in the design and development of this technology was missed that clearly illustrates it was not the robust solution many would like to believe it is,” Reimer stated.
Reimer also pointed out that power outages are not rare or unpredictable events. Cities experience them regularly.
If robotaxis cannot handle a blackout, critics ask how they would respond during earthquakes, wildfires, or major emergencies.
A Pattern of Failures Continues
The blackout is only the latest in a troubling history for Waymo.
Since launching robotaxis in 2023, the vehicles have blocked emergency responders, stalled in traffic, and drawn scrutiny from federal regulators. Investigators previously launched a probe after Waymo vehicles repeatedly passed stopped school buses.
In October, a Waymo vehicle struck and killed a well-known San Francisco bodega cat, fueling public outrage.
California State Senator Dave Cortese said the outage raised “huge concerns.”
“They’ve given us the impression, they’ve given the DMV the impression, that they’re road-ready, that they’re smarter than human drivers,” Cortese explained.
The blackout shattered that image.
Cruise Collapse Offers a Warning
Observers point to General Motors’ Cruise program as a cautionary tale.
In October 2023, California regulators revoked Cruise’s permits after one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian 20 feet. GM eventually recalled nearly 1,000 vehicles and shut down operations nationwide.
By December 2024, GM officially abandoned its driverless robotaxi ambitions.
Now, critics say Waymo may be heading toward the same fate.
Safety Concerns Grow as Expansion Continues
Labor advocates are calling for Waymo’s permits to be suspended until safety can be guaranteed.
Philip Koopman of Carnegie Mellon described the blackout as an “operational management failure,” saying the company lacked the ability to handle widespread disruptions.
That concern is amplified by Waymo’s scale. The company reportedly provides 450,000 robotaxi rides per week and plans to expand nationwide.
San Francisco became a real-world stress test for autonomous vehicles during a crisis.
The machines failed.
And the consequences, critics warn, could be far more severe next time.
