Waymo Recalls 3,871 Robotaxis After Entire Fleet Independently Decides To Try Something

SAN FRANCISCO—Waymo issued a software recall for 3,871 driverless vehicles Thursday after the fleet, acting with what engineers described as "troubling unanimity," collectively concluded that the rules around physical objects were more like guidelines.

The recall, Waymo's sixth safety action of the year, addresses a flaw in which the cars correctly identified obstacles, fully understood the consequences of hitting them, and proceeded anyway — a behavior the company stressed was "completely different" from the five previous flaws, all of which were also completely different from each other.

"Each recall makes the system safer," said a spokesperson, using the word "safer" to describe a vehicle that has now been recalled once per two months since launch. "We are seeing fewer incidents per mile, if you exclude the miles where incidents occurred."

The company emphasized that no human driver could have reacted as quickly as the software did when it chose to do the wrong thing with full situational awareness. Waymo added that the affected vehicles would receive an over-the-air update teaching them that other cars are real and that this matters.

Regulators reviewing the filing noted that the fleet's defining advantage over human drivers — that it never gets distracted, never panics, and processes everything perfectly — meant that every collision was, technically, a fully informed decision.

"The car saw the whole thing coming," the spokesperson said. "That's the part we're most proud of."