Waymo Navigates SF Blackout Chaos

On December 20, 2025, a significant Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) outage left a third of San Francisco without power, resulting in citywide traffic gridlock due to inoperable traffic lights. Waymo has since shared an account of its autonomous vehicles' operations during the event, noting that its drivers are programmed to handle dark signals as four-way stops. During the outage, Waymo vehicles successfully navigated over 7,000 such intersections. However, the unusual scale of the event led to a spike in remote confirmation checks, causing some response delays and contributing to congestion.

To manage the unprecedented situation, Waymo temporarily paused its services within the affected area. The company directed its vehicles to pull over safely and later returned them to depots. This measure was taken to avoid exacerbating the traffic chaos and to ensure that emergency vehicles could move freely. Waymo is now refining its operational protocols and rolling out fleet-wide software updates that provide specific power-outage context, enabling more decisive navigation.

Moving forward, Waymo is integrating lessons learned from the PG&E outage into its development strategy, specifically preparing for infrastructure failures. The company plans to enhance its emergency response protocols and deepen collaboration with San Francisco city officials. Further engagement with first responders is also a priority, with ongoing updates to training programs based on experiences from large-scale events like this outage.