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.”
About a third of San Francisco lost electricity throughout the day Saturday after rolling Pacific Gas & Electric Co. blackouts hit some 125,000 homes and businesses. It was not clear when the power would be restore, but the utility said it was “possible” it would happen later Saturday.
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 drivers behind them.
Power outage took out the waymos RIP pic.twitter.com/DPte8oOGku — Vincent Woo (@fulligin) December 21, 2025
Dead waymos all over SF blocking roads due to power outage 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CAsSxFroX3 — @jason (@Jason) December 21, 2025
Many of the videos and images showed Waymos stuck one behind the other, with human drivers passing them by.
6 Waymo’s parked at a broken traffic light blocking the roads. Seems like they were not trained for a power outage pic.twitter.com/9fBkoxgKwe — Walden (@walden_yan) December 21, 2025
Power out in SF and the @Waymo’s are causing a MASSIVE jam in North Beach 🤣 pic.twitter.com/fuvhprlyma — Iago Maciel (@_iagomaciel) December 21, 2025
Groups of two, three, as many as five Waymos were stuck at different corners across the city, blinking red lights in the rain.
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