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A widespread power failure hit San Francisco on Saturday, leaving around 130,000 customers without electricity at its height, as reported by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Beyond the immediate disruptions, the blackout created unexpected chaos for Alphabet’s self-driving fleet from Waymo, with numerous vehicles halting in place and snarling traffic throughout the city.
Social media quickly filled with images and clips of the autonomous Jaguar I-Pace SUVs immobilized amid darkened streets, exacerbating gridlock in an already strained urban environment. Meanwhile, drivers shared footage of Tesla vehicles relying on their Full Self-Driving software to maneuver through similar conditions, prompting Elon Musk to post on X that Tesla’s robotaxi prototypes operated without interruption during the incident.
Waymo paused its ride-hailing operations in the area to prioritize passenger safety and unobstructed paths for emergency responders, according to a statement from company spokesperson Suzanne Philion. By Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Pacific time, PG&E had restored power to roughly 114,000 impacted households while addressing damage from a blaze at a local substation.
Come Sunday evening, Philion announced the resumption of services, noting in an update that the outage stemmed from extensive infrastructure issues, including failed traffic signals and broader transit breakdowns. Waymo emphasized its coordination with local authorities and dedication to refining its systems for handling such disruptions, aiming to build lasting confidence among Bay Area residents.
The precise cause of the vehicles’ standstill remains under wraps, though observers pointed to potential breakdowns in cellular connectivity, strained by downed towers or surges in usage from those cut off from home internet, alongside inoperable stoplights. This isn’t the first time Waymo’s cars have faced such hurdles; earlier videos on TikTok captured similar freezes triggered by faulty signals or blackouts, including one in Austin, Texas.
A discussion on Reddit, where a purported ex-employee weighed in on a comparable event from the previous year, suggested the cars ping remote operators for guidance in ambiguous scenarios, holding position until cleared. Per details in a Waymo blog entry, these operators receive real-time camera feeds, historical footage, and sensor-generated 3D environmental models to assess situations. Yet, transmitting this data demands robust network access, which could falter amid major outages.
Waymo hasn’t disclosed the scale of its remote support team, but last November, it cleared an independent review from German firm Tüv Süd, validating its assistance protocols against sector standards. As autonomous transport integrates deeper into daily life, events like this highlight the vulnerabilities to real-world gremlins, even for frontrunners in the field.
