‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists focus on the expansion of autonomous ride-shares and what Waymo’s success means for the business.
Waymo is briefly halting freeway operations for its robotaxi service in a number of U.S. markets as the corporate works to handle efficiency points in building zones, FOX Enterprise has discovered.
The Alphabet-owned firm confirmed Thursday that it was pausing freeway operations whereas updating its software program.
“Security is Waymo’s high precedence, each for our riders and everybody we share the street with,” a Waymo spokesperson stated in an announcement to FOX Enterprise. “Now we have briefly paused freeway operations, as we work to combine latest technical learnings into our software program and anticipate to renew these routes quickly.”
Waymo stated the pause impacts solely freeway driving and that floor avenue operations stay energetic.
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A Waymo car drives with visitors on Dec. 27, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune Information Service through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The corporate stated its automobiles navigate building zones greater than 10,000 instances per day and that it’s utilizing the pause to enhance robotaxi efficiency on freeways.
The announcement comes after Waymo paused operations in Atlanta following flash-flooding incidents, whereas individually working to enhance efficiency round building zones and flooded roadways.
That pause adopted reviews of Waymo automobiles encountering floodwater in Atlanta on Wednesday; AJC reported one car required restoration, whereas Waymo stated a handful of others have been briefly waylaid.
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A Waymo autonomous taxi on Bush Road in San Francisco, California, US, on Dec. 17, 2025. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The transfer additionally comes after Waymo filed a recall masking 3,791 automobiles geared up with fifth- and sixth-generation Automated Driving Methods over a flooding-related software program situation that NHTSA stated may lead to lack of car management.
The recall adopted an April 20 incident during which an unoccupied Waymo car detected a doubtlessly untraversable flooded part of a roadway with a 40 mph velocity restrict and proceeded at lowered velocity, in keeping with NHTSA.
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The NHTSA report discovered that when a Waymo robotaxi approaches standing water on higher-speed roads, it might decelerate however fail to totally cease after detecting the hazard.
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Waymo car approaching the curb to select up a passenger on February 19, 2026. (Smith Assortment/Gado/Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
Practically 3,800 automobiles geared up with the corporate’s fifth and sixth-generation Automated Driving Methods (ADS) have been recalled. Regulators estimated the defect price at 100%.
In keeping with NHTSA, Waymo utilized an interim treatment to all affected automobiles on April 20, modifying the authorised scope of operation of its ADS to exclude extra situations that current an elevated danger of encountering a flooded, higher-speed roadway. Waymo remains to be creating a closing treatment.
Waymo operates 1000’s of automobiles throughout the U.S., together with in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin.
FOX Enterprise’ Bonny Chu and Reuters contributed to this report.
