December 23, 2025
Blackout, bots, and blocked boulevards
Autonomously navigating the real world: lessons from the PG&E outage
SF blackout turns robocars into roadblocks, locals rage while Waymo promises “updates”
TLDR: Waymo paused its self-driving service during SF’s blackout after cars contributed to gridlock, and it’s rolling out updates for outage awareness. The community split between outrage over road-blocking robots and a debate on what “autonomous” should mean, making this a test of trust in robo-drivers.
When San Francisco went dark in a massive PG&E power outage, Waymo’s self-driving fleet hit a very human problem: panic at the four-way stops. The company says its cars handled more than 7,000 dark signals, but a surge of “confirmation checks” jammed the system, helped clog streets, and forced Waymo to pause service while police managed intersections. Now Waymo vows fleet-wide updates, better emergency playbooks, and more first-responder training—because the robots need blackout context.
Online, the vibe was pure drama. One commenter dropped the Hacker News thread like a tea grenade, and the strongest chorus was disbelief: how was “blackout mode” not already a thing? Another camp was furious that a private company’s cars became literal obstacles during an emergency—“our roads aren’t your beta test,” the mood implied. There was a splash of irony too: robots built to make streets safer ended up freezing when the lights went out. But a quieter group defended the nuance: “autonomous” doesn’t mean never asking for help, and caution beats chaos.
Humor came fast: memes of robocars stuck at four-way stops forever, jokes about “press F to continue,” and quips that the latest update is a firmware patch for common sense. In short: blackout meets bot-brain, and the city had thoughts.
Key Points
- •A PG&E outage cut power to nearly one-third of San Francisco, disabling many traffic signals and causing severe congestion.
- •Waymo’s vehicles traversed over 7,000 dark signals, but increased confirmation requests created backlogs and delays that contributed to congestion.
- •Waymo is deploying fleet-wide updates to provide vehicles with regional outage context, enabling more decisive navigation at dark intersections.
- •As officials urged the public to stay off roads, Waymo paused service, instructed vehicles to pull over and park, and returned them to depots in waves.
- •Waymo will enhance emergency preparedness, coordinate with Mayor Lurie’s team, and expand first-responder training, having already trained 25,000+ personnel.