Approximately 130,000 customers experienced a power outage in San Francisco due to a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) substation on Saturday morning. The outage led to significant disruptions, including the suspension of Waymo's ride-hailing services in the area.
Images and videos shared on social media depicted Waymo's autonomous vehicles halted at intersections, their hazard lights activated. Waymo spokesperson Suzanne Philion confirmed the temporary suspension, stating that the company is collaborating with city officials to restore services as soon as possible.
By Sunday morning, PG&E reported that power had been restored to about 110,000 customers, with efforts continuing for the remaining 21,000 in areas like the Presidio and Golden Gate Park. While Waymo has not clarified why its self-driving taxis were stranded, the incident has raised concerns about the reliability of its autonomous driving system in response to malfunctioning traffic signals.
In response to the situation, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk noted on social media that Tesla's Robotaxis remained operational during the power outage.