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Waymo Robotaxis Stall During San Francisco Power Outage

Do autonomous vehicles signal a safer, smarter future, or did San Francisco’s blackout expose their real-world fragility?

Published DEC 23 2025

Waymo Robotaxis Stall During San Francisco Power Outage

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Above: Waymo driverless car stalls at a traffic light after a major power outage in San Francisco on Dec. 20, 2025. Image credit: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Spin

Techno-skeptic narrative

San Francisco’s blackout revealed the limits of Waymo’s robotaxis: when infrastructure fails, they freeze, stranding passengers and halting traffic. These incidents show autonomous vehicles are still far from the “set it and forget it” future tech companies tout. Fragility in real-world chaos raises serious questions — what happens during earthquakes, wildfires, or other emergencies? Driverless cars remain dependent on perfect conditions rather than providing truly reliable, hands-off transportation.

Car Dealership Guy News Daily Mail

Techno-optimist narrative

While San Francisco’s outage briefly stalled Waymo’s robotaxis, autonomous vehicles clearly remain the smarter choice for the future. In 2025, Waymo completed over 14 million rides — helping commuters, travelers, and even mothers giving birth in the backseat — while achieving a 10-fold reduction in serious-injury crashes versus human drivers. As the company expands to new cities and airports, the data and safety record make one thing clear: the future of transportation is autonomous — and better for people.

The New York Times Waymo Waymo

Narrative C

San Francisco’s blackout exposed a stark difference in autonomous tech: Waymo’s robotaxis froze at intersections, stranded passengers and added to gridlock, while Teslas on Full Self-Driving navigated the same chaos without interruption. The outage highlights a key divide: Waymo’s AI relies on orderly maps and signals, whereas Tesla’s system, trained on billions of real-world miles, handles disorder — proving that resilience matters as much as automation. In the battle of the robotaxi wars, Tesla is clearly pulling ahead.

Elon Musk on X

Mario Nawfal on X

Articles on this story

Waymo robotaxis stop in the streets during San Francisco power outage