Waymo's San Francisco outage raises doubts over robotaxi readiness during crises

Waymo's San Francisco outage raises doubts over robotaxi readiness during crises SAN FRANCISCO - A widespread power outage in San Francisco that led to Waymo robotaxis stalling and snarling traffic earlier this month has raised concerns about the readiness of autonomous vehicle operators to tackle major emergencies like earthquakes and floods. Driverless taxis from Alphabet unit Waymo, a ubiquitous feature on the city's streets, were stuck at intersections with their hazard lights turned on as traffic lights stopped working following a fire at a PG&E substation that knocked out power to roughly one-third of the city on Dec. 20, videos posted on social media showed. Waymo halted operations, resuming a day later. The incident has renewed calls for stricter regulation of the nascent but fast-growing industry as other companies including Tesla and Amazon's Zoox race to expand robotaxi services in several cities. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.