"Waymo said Saturday that it was stopping service across San Francisco after numerous online videos showed its autonomous vehicles snarling traffic during the citywide blackout. "We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services given the broad power outage in San Francisco," wrote Suzanne Philion, a company spokesperson, a little after 7 p.m. "We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work.""
"Traffic lights across the city were down, seemingly halting Waymos in their tracks. Riders and pedestrians posted videos of Waymos stuck at intersections with long lines of seemingly frustrated drivers behind them. Many of the videos and images showed Waymos stuck one behind the other, with human drivers passing them by. Groups of two, three, as many as five Waymos were stuck at different corners across the city, blinking red lights in the rain."
"San Francisco, CA (DEC.20.2025)It's official. This is the 1,000th posted video from the Sunset Project™️. Just over 20m views on X to date. This afternoon's flurry of frozen Waymo's across the city of San Francisco causing a historic traffic meltdown has brought about the... https://t.co/DLrvTVLKQD pic.twitter.com/SHxvg2yLQ2- No Safe Words (@Cyber_Trailer) December 21, 2025 Oh what a surprise, another traffic jam from a confused @waymo that can't handle the power outage. Also cellular service has been pretty spotty so maybe their remote driver backups are having trouble controlling them? pic.twitter.com/BHjk3JjOzp- Roger (@OkGoDoIt) December 21, 2025"
Waymo stopped ride-hailing service across San Francisco during a widespread power outage that left about a third of the city without electricity and affected some 125,000 homes and businesses. Traffic signals failed during rolling blackouts tied to Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and multiple Waymo vehicles became immobilized at intersections. Riders and pedestrians posted videos showing clusters of Waymos stuck one behind another while human drivers navigated past them. The company said the suspension prioritized rider safety and clear access for emergency personnel. Reported spotty cellular service may have hampered remote-operator backups, and the utility said restoration was possible later that day.
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