Particle.news
Download on the App Store

San Francisco Blackout Stalls Waymo Robotaxis, Power Restoration Lets Service Resume

The outage, linked by the utility to a substation fire, renewed scrutiny of how autonomous systems handle disrupted city infrastructure.

Overview

  • Up to 130,000 customers lost electricity Saturday after a reported fire at an electrical station triggered a citywide blackout.
  • Social-media videos showed dozens of Waymo cars stopped in live lanes and at darkened intersections, with some riders still inside.
  • Waymo paused on-demand rides during the outage and said it restarted operations Sunday as power was restored in most areas.
  • Elon Musk claimed on X that Tesla robotaxis were unaffected, though Tesla does not operate fully driverless taxi service in San Francisco.
  • The incident prompted fresh questions from industry observers about autonomous vehicle performance in rapidly changing or degraded conditions.