Waymo Self-Driving Cars Left Stalled on Major Roads During SF Power Outage
Published
San Francisco was hit with a major power outage Saturday night, turning the whole city into darkness and dangerously stalling a ton of self-driving Waymo taxis.
The citywide outage forced Waymo to halt its driverless car service, stranding the autonomous vehicles in the middle of the streets and intersections, according to pedestrians posting videos on X Saturday.
bad day to be a Waymo in SF during a PG&E-induced power outage pic.twitter.com/3SwEP993zn
— Mishaal Abbasi (@WhereIsMishaal) December 21, 2025 @WhereIsMishaal
A Waymo spokesperson tells TMZ that ride-hailing services have been “temporarily suspended” due to the outage. They added, “Our teams are working diligently and in close coordination with city officials to monitor infrastructure stability, and we are hopeful to bring our services back online soon.”
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 @_iagomaciel
SFGATE reports the company had to shut down its operation at around 8 p.m. due to the cars being unable to operate without traffic signals.
According to online footage, at least four Waymo vehicles were parked in the middle of an intersection with their hazards on, creating a large traffic jam at the busy intersection in the North Beach neighborhood.
SFGATE reports thousands of San Franciscans still remain without power on Sunday morning, as PG&E crews continue to work to restore electricity after a now nearly day-long outage.
We’ve reached out to Waymo, so far, no word back.
