So, San Francisco had a big power outage, right? And guess who got totally bamboozled? Waymo's self-driving cars. Yeah, those supposedly super-smart vehicles were seen just chilling at intersections with their hazard lights blinking, looking as confused as I am when I try to assemble IKEA furniture.

Waymo, in a move that makes total sense, decided to halt their ride-hailing service in the Bay Area. I mean, can you imagine being stuck in a driverless car during a power outage? That's a Black Mirror episode waiting to happen. A Waymo spokesperson mentioned they're working with city officials and hoping to get back online soon, which is good news for everyone who relies on their service.

The whole mess started because of a fire at a PG&E substation, leaving around 130,000 customers without power. As of Sunday morning, they'd managed to restore power to most, but still had a chunk of the city in the dark.

What Went Wrong?

Now, here's the interesting part: Waymo hasn't exactly explained why their cars got so flustered. But, if you think about it, their system probably relies heavily on traffic lights. Their website even says they "respond to signs and signals, like traffic light colors." So, no power, no traffic lights, no idea what to do. It's like taking away a toddler's pacifier – complete meltdown.

And you know who couldn't resist chiming in? Elon Musk, of course. He tweeted that Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by the power outage. Classic Elon, always ready for a little self-promotion. Whether that's actually true or not is another question.

Look, I'm all for self-driving cars, but this incident highlights a pretty significant flaw. What happens when the technology they rely on fails? Maybe Waymo needs to add a "Plan B" for when the lights go out, like, I don't know, teaching them to yield to pedestrians or something. For the moment, they look like sitting ducks.