A crowd in San Francisco destroyed a Waymo car on February 11, amid tensions over autonomous vehicles; Waymo says the car “was not transporting any riders”

A person jumped on the hood of a Waymo driverless taxi and smashed its windshield in San Francisco's Chinatown last night around 9PM PT …

The Verge 2024-02-12 Wes Davis

Context & Ripple Effects

The incident lands in an already strained San Francisco rollout, following reports of Waymo vehicles jamming an intersection and broader concerns that robotaxis could obstruct traffic or emergency response. The city’s move toward 24/7 service had made public trust a central operating constraint, not just a product issue.

Because the vehicle was empty, the immediate harm reported is to Waymo’s equipment rather than a passenger. But the destruction turns diffuse frustration with autonomous vehicles into a visible security and acceptance problem for the operator.

First-order effects

Waymo loses a vehicle and must manage the operational and safety response to an attack on an unmanned taxi in San Francisco.
The event intensifies scrutiny of Waymo’s street presence at a time when local confidence had already been challenged by traffic-jam and emergency-access concerns.

Second-order effects

Waymo and other robotaxi operators face pressure to show that vehicle behavior, incident response, and public communication can reduce conflict with residents and road users.
Physical attacks add an operating risk beyond software performance: fleet deployment can be disrupted even when no rider is in the vehicle.

Third-order effects

If such incidents recur, robotaxi expansion may be governed as much by local legitimacy and security resilience as by regulator approval and technical capability.
The pattern suggests autonomous-mobility companies will need to treat public acceptance as an ongoing operational requirement, rather than assuming service availability alone produces it.

The trend: Robotaxi deployment is shifting from a regulatory and engineering test into a broader contest over public trust, urban coexistence, and fleet resilience.

Discussion

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org Lauren Weinstein on mastodon
Years ago I predicted that there would eventually be violent attacks on autonomous vehicles. I didn't expect them quite this soon however. - Crowd in San Francisco attacks, sets Waymo robotaxi on fire. - https://sfstandard.com/... [image]
@sffdpio @sffdpio on x
Waymo Vehicle surrounded and then graffiti'd, windows were broken, and firework lit on fire inside the vehicle which ultimately caught the entire vehicle on fire. #SFFD Photos by Séraphine Hossenlopp [image]
@michael_vandi Michael Vandi on x
happening NOW in SF. Waymo car vandalized & lit on fire 🤯@sfchronicle [video]
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
The rebellion against robots has begun https://www.theverge.com/...
@jason @jason on x
If you're wondering what happens when you don't police crimes, then stop supporting the police, here's your answer: chaos It's only going to get worse... it's not turning around. @LondonBreed talks a good game, but she's accomplished nothing.
@gia_vang Gia Vang on x
BREAKING: An autonomous Waymo vehicle is intentionally set on fire in Chinatown, according to SF Fire. Firefighters said they got reports around 10 people were involved. Waymo said “a crowd surrounded and vandalized the vehicle, breaking the window and throwing a firework ... [vi…
@btbytes Pradeep Gowda on x
Less than 24 hours of me posting this pic and taking a ride in Waymo, some loons burnt a Waymo car. Feeling like your head is on a swivel is not something I ever experienced anywhere in India or the Midwest. This city is kept afloat by irrational nostalgia.
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco. I expect we will see more outbursts of Luddite energy as automation spreads from factories to more blue & white collar fields. The question is whether governments will be as willing to suppress them now as they did then? …
@alex @alex on x
This is so fucking dumb leave the self driving cars the fuck alone.
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
Why would the robots rebel?
@mcwm Mike Murphy on x
the robots won't forget this day
@friscolive415 @friscolive415 on x
🎥🔥🧨Raw HD footage: @Waymo vehicle torched in Chinatown —> Holy moly we just got done clipping together this HD footage from tonight for y'all... hope you enjoy (warning: there's a horn for the first few seconds and you're gonna get wet!) #SplashZone [video]
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
A better world is possible.
@noahpinion Noah Smith on x
We need to have a blog called “cyberpunk nonfiction” where people write up the daily news in the style of William Gibson or Neal Stephenson
@jeffspeckfaicp Jeff Speck on x
I'd be curious to learn more, but it appears as if an SF Waymo tried to drive through a parade on Chinese new year and was appropriately destroyed.
@clarajeffery Clara Jeffery on x
Seems like someone threw firecrackers into a Waymo in Chinatown [image]
@_nathanmarquez_ Nathan on x
@Waymo on fire in sf chinatown 😭 [video]
@balajis Balaji on x
If you're in tech, these people don't see you as “fellow Americans” — but as members of an enemy tribe that they want to drive out of their city. And the government is on their side.
@aravsrinivas Aravind Srinivas on x
This is just sad. SF deserves better people. And Waymo deserves a lot more respect. [image]
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
beautiful scenes out of san francisco
@bcmerchant Brian Merchant on x
Lots of people predictably calling the Waymo torchers dumb, unthinking, or ‘Luddites’ based on an incorrect understanding of the term They ignore how much anger there is at big tech right now, at tech like self-driving cars being rammed into communities. https://www.reuters.com/.…
@tomgara Tom Gara on x
San Francisco ritualistically sacrificed a Waymo the night before the Super Bowl and it ended up cursing them, Stannis Baratheon style
r/uberdrivers r on reddit
A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco
r/gadgets r on reddit
A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco | No one was in Waymo's driverless taxi as it was surrounded and set on fire in San Francisco's Chinatown.
r/technology r on reddit
A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco
r/fuckcars r on reddit
A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco / No one was in Waymo's driverless taxi as it was surrounded and set on fire in San Francisco's Chinatown
r/cars r on reddit
A Mob Just Vandalized A Waymo Self-Driving Car And Set It On Fire. The Videos Are Nuts

Chronicles