Waymo is recalling thousands of its self-driving cars across the US due to a software problem that could cause vehicles to drive into flooded roads.
The recall follows an incident on April 20 in San Antonio, Texas, where an empty Waymo vehicle entered a flooded road and was swept into a creek. Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, has temporarily suspended its San Antonio service until a software fix is deployed.
Temporary updates have already been applied to restrict affected vehicles from operating in extreme weather. Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London, notes that autonomous systems often reveal their limits only after something goes wrong.
Waymo now provides more than 500,000 trips per week across multiple US cities. As deployment grows, Stilgoe warns that more such incidents are likely, though the technology still holds significant potential.