Waymo Recalls Robotaxis After Highway Detection Failures

Waymo has initiated a voluntary software recall affecting 3,871 of its autonomous robotaxis following a series of incidents in which vehicles failed to detect and avoid active highway construction zones, federal regulators confirmed on Thursday.

The recall, filed Wednesday with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), applies specifically to vehicles equipped with the Alphabet subsidiary’s fifth-generation automated driving system. According to regulatory filings, the software can, under certain conditions, allow robotaxis to enter and navigate closed construction zones at highway speeds without properly recognizing traffic disruptions, an operational failure that federal officials said “increases the risk of a crash.”

The safety campaign was triggered by 13 documented field incidents occurring in April and May. Of these, six were recorded near Phoenix, Arizona, and seven in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. According to company records, the vehicles either entered fully closed construction zones on highways or merged into active freeway lanes under construction. No injuries were reported in connection with any of the incidents.

In response, Waymo suspended its autonomous freeway operations across the United States on May 19 while technical teams worked on a software update.

“We identified an area for improvement in performance around freeway construction zones. We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA. We continue to safely serve riders on surface streets in all the cities where we operate,” a Waymo spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

While a permanent software fix is under development, Waymo has limited the availability of its autonomous fleet on freeways. Prior to the suspension, the company offered public highway rides to select passengers in four major metropolitan markets: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami. The fleet continues to operate on surface streets in those regions.

This filing marks Waymo’s sixth software recall to date and its second regulatory safety action in just over a month. In May, the company recalled approximately 3,800 autonomous vehicles after incidents in which robotaxis drove into flooded areas or standing water.

The company has faced additional scrutiny from federal safety regulators over other operational behaviors. In December, Waymo recalled more than 3,000 vehicles after autonomous units illegally passed stopped school buses in Austin, Texas, and stalled during a widespread power outage in San Francisco, causing localized gridlock. The NHTSA Safety Board subsequently launched a formal investigation following a January incident involving a school bus bypass.

The safety corrections come amid a capital-intensive expansion phase for the autonomous vehicle developer. Waymo raised US$16 billion in a funding round in February and currently operates commercial services across 11 U.S. markets. To drive consumer adoption in high-demand areas, the company recently introduced a US$29.99 monthly subscription tier for frequent users. Waymo’s broader strategy targets expansion into more than 20 cities by 2026, including its first international deployments in London and Tokyo, as it competes for global market share against rivals such as Baidu’s Apollo Go.

Company data indicates that Waymo vehicles have completed approximately 270 million kilometers of fully autonomous driving, achieving a serious accident rate the company says is 13 times lower than that of human drivers.

Industry analysts note that the temporary suspension of highway capabilities represents a tactical setback for the company’s near-term growth targets.

“We believe Waymo’s expansion velocity is fundamentally constrained,” said Grayson Brulte, co-founder, Autnmy AI, an organization that monitors the autonomous driving industry. While Brulte characterized the voluntary filing as a “proactive decision,” he noted that the company’s operational scaling will remain restricted “until the freeway patch is deployed and validated.”