Waymo suspends service after power outage hit San Francisco

Waymo temporarily halted its San Francisco robotaxi service after a widespread blackout left multiple autonomous vehicles stranded on city streets. The power outage began at 1:09 p.m., peaked two hours later, and affected about 130,000 customers, with around 21,000 still without power by Sunday morning. The blackout was triggered by a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation, and the disruption disabled traffic lights and potentially affected mobile networks, forcing Waymo vehicles to stop.

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company owned by Alphabet and operates self-driving rides in select cities in the United States. A Waymo spokesperson told CNBC that the ride-hailing services were temporarily suspended in the San Francisco Bay Area as teams coordinate with city officials and work to bring services back online. Follow-up updates were promised as the situation developed. According to CNBC, the company said it was hopeful to restore services soon and appreciated customer patience.