Baidu will bring robotaxis to London via Uber AND Lyft
Waymo Explains What Happened during the SF blackout, The problem with Tesla’s ‘Mad Max mode’, and My first Freeway Ride
We’ll be publishing a brief CES guide for AV attendees next week. If there are any events, companies, or people worth meeting, please reply to this email and let us know.
Top Stories of the Week
Waymo resumes service in San Francisco after massive power outage (link). A power outage in San Francisco on Saturday knocked out electricity to roughly 125,000 households and disabled traffic signals across the city. During the outage, multiple Waymo vehicles were seen stalled at intersections with non-functioning lights, prompting the company to pause ride-hailing service Saturday evening. Waymo resumed service on Sunday and also released an official statement on the incident on Tuesday (link):
While the Waymo Driver is designed to handle dark traffic signals as four-way stops, it may occasionally request a confirmation check to ensure it makes the safest choice. While we successfully traversed more than 7,000 dark signals on Saturday, the outage created a concentrated spike in these requests. This created a backlog that, in some cases, led to response delays contributing to congestion on already-overwhelmed streets.
I think Waymo’s explanation largely makes sense, but I was disappointed by the lack of transparency1 around how many vehicles were affected and how long they remained paused. The post read more like a “we’ll do better next time” update than a clear acknowledgment of what went wrong and how it will be fixed. A power outage and loss of cell service is hardly an edge case, so it is reasonable to expect Waymo to have been better prepared for a scenario like this. At a minimum, vehicles should not be sitting in the middle of intersections. They should be programmed to pull over and get out of the way. That feels obvious, even without the benefit of hindsight.
Fortunately, the incident did not escalate beyond frustrated drivers and added congestion, but it raises a more serious question: what happens if something like this occurs during a natural disaster? I am normally not a fan of government intervention, but this does seem like an area where regulators need to take a closer look at disaster scenario planning for AVs and establish clearer requirements or guidelines.
Related: Waymo pauses robotaxis in SF again due to flash flood warnings on Christmas Day (link).
Uber, Lyft Team Up With Baidu to Start Robotaxi Trials in UK (link, no paywall).
Uber said Monday a pilot program using Baidu’s Apollo Go RT6 robotaxis in London will start in the first half of 2026, with commercial services expected in the city before the end of next year. Separately, ride-hailing platform Lyft will also carry out UK tests next year with dozens of the same vehicles, pending regulatory approval
Human drivers have long known that it is most profitable to drive for both Uber and Lyft, and it looks like Baidu may have learned a similar lesson on the AV side. While still early and subject to regulation, this setup suggests Uber and Lyft will operate separate robotaxi fleets built on the same underlying vehicle and autonomy stack.
Other Stuff
‘Waymo is working on Gemini AI in-car assistant’ (link).
Zoox issues software recall over lane crossings (link).
Amazon-owned Zoox issued a recall Tuesday over concerns its autonomous driving system caused vehicles to cross over the center lane line near intersections or block crosswalks. The voluntary recall of its software affected 332 vehicles, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Robocars 2025 In Review: Tesla v. Waymo And More (link, no paywall).
‘It’s with incredible pride that I share this whitepaper on how Terawatt is building to work with the grid, optimizing for what exists today. This is a challenge I have been thinking about for many years – from my days working at the utility, to building the world’s largest data centers, to now’ (link).
Fight between Waymo and Santa Monica goes to court (link, no paywall). Waymo is challenging an order from the Santa Monica to halt overnight operations at one of its local lots, after residents complained that noise, lights, and beeping from the vehicles constituted a public nuisance.
This does not seem like a smart fight for Waymo to pick. We have shared the videos before, and it sure looks like a public nuisance. Ultimately, facilities like this belong in more commercial or industrial areas, not next to residential neighborhoods.
Tesla Robotaxis Are Big on Wall St. but Lagging on Roads (link, no paywall).
‘The primary bear case against $UBER is summarized in two words: AV disruption. Investors fear that AVs will crush Uber’s ~30% take rate, destroying profitability. I disagree. In fact, I believe an estimated 20% AV take rate is a massive tailwind….’ (link).
This thread lays out the bull case for Uber, but I’m not sure investors are buying it since Uber’s stock is down 15% over the past 3 months (underperforming the S&P 500 by ~20%).
Tesla’s ‘Mad Max mode’ points to a big problem for self-driving cars (link) via David Zipper.
Companies like Tesla and Waymo may be shielded from the consequences of both minor and major traffic violations. The driver of a Tesla running FSD, for instance, is expected to remain alert and ready to take over, and the company claims that the driver—not Tesla—is liable for mishaps or collisions.
Related: Listen to my interview with David on the impact of AVs on cities and mobility, we talked about congestion, what it means for public transit, and more here (link).
Tesla is recruiting factory workers and sales staff to operate its ‘Robotaxi’ service (link).
Forget Waymo — everyone should ride the bus (link, no paywall).
Driverless Waymo taxis begin operating on Los Angeles freeways (link). Here’s an interview I did with Fox 11 LA talking about my first Waymo freeway ride. A Waymo spokesperson told the outlet, “Our LA service area spans Santa Monica to Echo Park and down to Inglewood, and we do not have limitations on which freeway routes we can take.” But after weeks of testing, I still cannot get Waymo to stay on the 10 freeway through the 405 interchange. It always exits, which suggests that statement is not accurate.
Tesla’s Robotaxi project in Austin is much smaller than Musk claims (link).
Waymo Factory December 2025 Update (link).
Tesla has registered more than 1,000 new vehicles for its ‘Robotaxi’ fleet in California in just a few months (link).
Waymo is now serving PHX and SJC with 500,000+ airport rides and counting (link).
What else we’re reading/listening to
Autonocast by Alex Roy, Ed Niedermeyer, and Kirsten Korosec: #352: Waymo...With Great Scale Comes Great Responsibility (link). You can jump to the 4:30 timestamp where they separate the substance of Rivian’s Autonomy announcement from the hype about robotaxis and personally owned vehicles. I also liked Ed’s quote at the 44:00 mark about how Waymo hasn’t really been tested until now when the new money will be flowing in.
My First Waymo Freeway Ride (link).
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis, and Alex Wilhelm: Waymo Madness in SF! Why robotaxis clogged the streets | E2227 (link). Feel free to jump to the 26:31 timestamp where they discussed Google’s recent acquisition of Intersect and the possibility of Google buying Uber, combining Uber’s platform with Waymo’s tech as a way to take on Tesla.
AVs/Humans behaving badly
‘There’s a lot to like about Zoox but to call it the best robotaxi is a disservice to all the others doing much better in the space’ (link).
‘Waymos fill the street in Culver City’ (link).
Neat Jobs
Product Manager, Waymo Driver Validation (link) via Sugandha Sangal.
Multiple AI roles at Nexar (link) via Nexar.
Director, Product Engineering at May Mobility (link) via May Mobility.
Litigation Counsel at Waymo (link) via Sarah Jones.
Autonomy Systems Test Engineer at Zoox (link) via Shashi Manjunatha.
Recruiter, Autopilot at Tesla (link) via Patti Lonsbury.
You can check out our new AV job board where we post all of the roles we feature (link). If people like it, I will find a way to turn it into something a bit prettier.
Cool Rides
Along for the ride in unsupervised FSD testing (link).
‘Tried my first Zoox today!’ (link).
Shout-outs
Big thanks to TDD reader Jackson L for referring new subscribers. If there’s someone you think would enjoy TDD, just forward this email to them or use the referral button below.
Until next year :)
-Harry
Waymo has not disclosed how many traffic signals vehicles were unable to traverse during the outage, nor how long individual vehicles remained stalled at intersections while awaiting confirmation or assistance.