Waymo is updating its software after a massive power outage in San Francisco left its driverless cars confused and stalled. The Alphabet-owned company announced late Tuesday that it needs to prepare its fleet for when city infrastructure fails again.
The trouble began early Saturday afternoon. A fire at a PG&E substation knocked out power to roughly 130,000 customers. With traffic lights dark across the city, intersections turned into gridlock. Mayor Daniel Lurie deployed police, fire crews, and parking officers to manage the chaos, but social media users quickly spotted another problem: Waymo vehicles were stuck in the mess.
Videos circulated online showing the white Jaguar I-Pace cars stalled in traffic or stopped in lanes. In a blog post, Waymo explained that it directed the fleet to pull over and park so they wouldn’t block emergency vehicles or worsen traffic. They eventually moved the cars back to their depots in waves.
Now, the company is taking three immediate steps to fix how the cars handle these situations. First, they are pushing a fleet-wide update that gives the vehicles more context about regional power outages. This should help the cars make more decisive moves when navigating dark intersections.
Second, Waymo is overhauling its emergency response protocols. They plan to coordinate more closely with Mayor Lurie’s office to ensure the robotaxis work with city officials during disasters rather than getting in the way. Finally, the company is updating its training materials for first responders based on what they learned during Saturday’s blackout.
Despite the hiccup, Waymo remains confident. The company currently offers paid rides in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. They recently hit 450,000 paid rides per week and have completed 14 million trips in 2025 alone.
“We’ve always focused on developing the Waymo Driver for the world as it is, including when infrastructure fails,” the company wrote. They pointed to their 100 million miles of autonomous driving experience as proof that they are ready to handle the unpredictable nature of city streets.
