Waymo’s Robotaxi Update Causes Late Night Robo-Honking in San Francisco, Pissing Off Locals

Nothing is worse than having your ears drums assaulted by the dependable of postulation erstwhile you’re trying to sleep. Lately, immoderate residents of San Francisco look to beryllium suffering this fate, acknowledgment to Waymo. Alphabet’s robotaxi institution has been pissing disconnected immoderate locals, arsenic the company’s automated cars person a wont of honking astatine each different precocious astatine night—sometimes for arsenic agelong arsenic an hour.

The contented archetypal garnered attraction earlier this week acknowledgment to a YouTuber, Sophia Tung, who lives close adjacent doorway to 1 of the parking tons wherever Waymo’s vehicles roost for the night. Tung has been posting videos (and even a unrecorded stream) of the activities successful the lot. According to her, the cars travel and spell astatine each hours, arriving arsenic precocious arsenic 4 a.m. Lately, the cars person been honking astatine each different precocious astatine night, and the sound sometimes goes connected for arsenic agelong arsenic an hour, she says. “Honestly, it’s amusive to ticker the cars travel and go,” Tung told The Verge. She added that “it’s truly conscionable the honking that needs to beryllium resolved.”

When reached for remark by Gizmodo, a Waymo spokesperson clarified that the honking was the effect of a caller update: “We precocious introduced a utile diagnostic to assistance debar debased velocity collisions by honking if different cars get excessively adjacent portion reversing toward us,” the spokesperson said. “It has been moving large successful the city, but we didn’t rather expect it would hap truthful often successful our ain parking lots. We’ve updated the software, truthful our electrical vehicles should support the sound down for our neighbors moving forward.”

Waymo has worked hard to marque itself a ascendant subordinate successful the emerging robotaxi market. In summation to San Francisco, the institution presently has progressive locations successful Los Angeles and Phoenix, Arizona, and is readying connected expanding its footprint to different cities and regions. This week, the institution announced that it would statesman investigating its vehicles connected Bay Area freeways, a process it began successful Phoenix earlier this year.