Waymo updating fleet after San Francisco blackout to improve navigation
In this screenshot from a social media video, a Waymo car is stopped on the road due to a power outage in San Francisco, California, USA, December 20, 2025.d
Reuters
Three days after a power outage in San Francisco caused Waymo to halt its driverless car service. AlphabetThe company it owns said it is updating its fleet so its vehicles can better respond to future outages.
“We have always been focused on improving the Waymo Driver for the world as it is, including when the infrastructure fails,” the company said. blog post late Tuesday.
Power outages in San Francisco began Saturday afternoon and peaked about two hours later, affecting about 130,000 customers. Pacific Gas and Electric. As of Sunday morning, approximately 21,000 customers were without power. PG&E said the fire at the substation caused “significant and extensive” damage.
The city faced widespread traffic congestion due to traffic lights and stoplights not working. Videos shared on social media show multiple Waymo vehicles stopped in traffic in various neighborhoods.
“We directed our fleet to pull over and park appropriately so that we could return vehicles to our warehouses in waves,” Waymo said in a blog post on Tuesday. “This ensured that we did not further increase traffic congestion or impede emergency vehicles during the peak period of rescue efforts.”
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said: update on x Police officers, fire crews, parking control officers and city ambassadors were deployed to affected neighborhoods on Saturday evening.
Waymo said it analyzed the incident and took three “immediate steps.”
The first involves “fleet-wide updates” to provide vehicles with “more context around regional outages” so cars can take more decisive action at intersections. The company also said it has improved its “emergency response protocols” and is coordinating with Mayor Lurie’s team in San Francisco to better collaborate on emergency preparedness. Finally, Waymo said it is updating its first responder training “as we discover learnings from this and other common incidents.”
In addition to the Bay Area, Waymo currently offers paid rides to the public in and around Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The company recently surpassed an estimated 450,000 weekly paid rides and announced service in December. 14 million trips In 2025, it will be on pace to finish the year with over 20 million total rides since its launch in 2020.
“More than 100 million miles of fully autonomous driving experience and record “We are undaunted by the opportunity to challenge the status quo of our roads to improve highway safety and are proud to continue serving San Franciscan residents and visitors,” the company said in its blog Tuesday.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny and Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.
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