News Summary

Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Alphabet, temporarily suspended its robotaxi service in San Francisco due to a massive power outage that caused gridlock by stalling many of its vehicles. The outage affected traffic signals and public transit, prompting San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to advise residents to stay off the roads. Despite the disruption, most active trips were completed successfully. Waymo resumed its service by late Sunday after closely coordinating with city officials. The blackout, caused by a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation, affected around 120,000 customers, with thousands still without power on Sunday morning. Waymo, which provides about 450,000 robotaxi rides per week, is committed to integrating lessons from this event to maintain trust and service reliability.