Waymo Recalls Thousands of Robotaxis After Flood Incident in Texas

What happened

Waymo has issued a voluntary recall for nearly 3,800 of its autonomous vehicles in the United States. According to a letter posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website on Tuesday, the recall is a response to an incident on April 20 in San Antonio, Texas. During that event, an unoccupied Waymo robotaxi entered a flooded road and was subsequently swept into a creek.

What's new in this update

The company is currently developing additional software safeguards to ensure vehicles can better identify and avoid flooded roadways. In the interim, Waymo has suspended its service in San Antonio and implemented geographic restrictions to prevent its fleet from entering areas at high risk for flash flooding. The company stated it will resume public operations in San Antonio once the necessary software fix has been deployed across the fleet.

Key details

The recall specifically affects vehicles using Waymo's fifth and sixth-generation automated driving systems. Despite this setback, Waymo maintains that it provides more than 500,000 trips per week across several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Austin, and Miami. The company reiterated that safety remains its primary priority as it works to resolve the software issue.

Background and context

This recall adds to a series of technical challenges for driverless car operators over the past year. In December 2025, a major power outage in San Francisco caused Waymo taxis to stall across the city, leading to significant traffic disruption. Similarly, in April, a mass outage of Apollo Go robotaxis in Wuhan, China, caused a hundred vehicles to stop mid-traffic. Experts note that these incidents highlight the inherent operational limits of current autonomous technology.

What to watch next

The success of the software rollout will be a key factor in Waymo's planned international expansion, which includes a goal to launch services in London by September. Policymakers and technology experts are likely to increase their demands for more advanced disclosure of operational limits to prevent similar safety incidents as autonomous vehicle deployment grows.