Waymo car on fire in San Francisco's Chinatown
In a disturbing scene, a crowd in San Francisco surrounded an empty Waymo Robotaxi the evening of February 11, then began vandalizing it and breaking its windows. At some point, the vehicle was set on fire. San Francisco Fire attended to it but the vehicle was largely destroyed.
Video posted on X shows four portions of the scene, on Jackson Street near Grant in the city’s original Chinatown, crowded because of the Lunar New Year and the upcoming San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl game that night. Violence in crowds around such events isn’t out of the ordinary, but this incident follows previously mild incidents of violence and vandalism with other robotaxis.
The San Francisco Fire Department, which responded to the scene, has been at odds with Waymo of late, complaining that its robotaxis have interfered with fire operations. At the same time, however, the department recently released a video explaining how cars should drive when a fire truck appears on a call, and it used a Waymo vehicle as the example of doing the right thing.
The attackers are not masked, and many of their faces show clearly in the posted videos. Many others are shown making videos, which could provide a large amount of evidence if Waymo wishes to press charges against those involved in destroying its expensive vehicle.
This video shows the moment a person in a white hoodie tosses a firework into the broken window, lighting it afire.
In addition, an array of cameras and LIDARs in the vehicle recorded the entire thing from every angle. Some of those videos would have been transmitted as the events took place. Others would be stored on drives in the vehicle, which may have been destroyed by the fire or may have survived it. It is unknown if Waymo’s log drives are in a fire-protective environment.
Badly burnt, but drives under the rear trunk might survive, particularly if protected.
What’s unusual in this situation is that Waymo owns a vast network of cameras on wheels, and other Waymo cars on the streets may have also recorded elements of this scene. In addition, given the volume of vehicles, they almost surely recorded other video of the perpetrators as they walked to and from the riot.
One person who breaks the windows of the vehicle is wearing a hoodie, and while there are shots of his face, it’s not clear. However, the hoodie is distinctive, and if this person walked past another Waymo (or the thousands of security cameras on various private buildings on the streets) a video with a better view of the suspect’s face may surface.
In situations like this, police are known to request video from the many private security cameras from nearby residents, but Waymo might be wary of doing so. Waymo might not want its cars to be a general surveillance tool for police at all times. There is a difference between a business using its own cameras to produce evidence on a crime against the company and allowing police to do this. Recently, Ring decided it would no longer let police put in requests to homeowners for their Ring camera footage in order to limit the growth of a surveillance state.
Waymo may be tempted to not just catch the perpetrators of this attack but to create a deterrent against future attack. While it is possible to wear masks and other clothing to make things harder, Waymo would find value in people being very wary of attacking their vehicles.
Many in the crowd do not engage in violence, but those who do seem very clear on the video. The crowds will get more raucous, particularly after the Super Bowl. Waymo may be wise, at least for now, to reduce service in the city during that period. There is not a great deal of evidence on the motives of the vandals, and only time will tell if this is part of an escalation of action against robotaxis, or an unusual and unrepeated incident.
