May 14 - Waymo, Alphabet's (GOOGL, Financial) self‑driving arm, is pulling back 1,212 vehicles after a software hiccup in its fifth‑generation driving system led to several barrier collisions.
The glitch caused cars to misread barrier positions. Within hours, Waymo deployed an update that fine‑tunes obstacle detection and steering responses. The company noted its newer sixth‑generation software already sidesteps the problem.
This marks yet another technology tweak in Waymo's rapid iteration cycle. In June, the fleet recalled 670 cars after one struck a utility pole in Phoenix, triggering an NHTSA probe. And in 2023, a voluntary recall followed two bumps with a towed truck—both traced to sensor‑interpretation errors.
No one was hurt, but the streak of fixes underscores the complexity of scaling AI‑powered navigation. Still, Waymo insists it leads the pack in fully driverless ride‑hailing, with robotaxis roaming Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles without a safety driver.
Strategic partnerships with Uber and Lyft fuel its rollout, and each software refresh brings the vision of hands‑free travel a bit closer.
