{"id":"a425a082-3643-4d1b-8d9e-283c8012c5de","slug":"recall-2026-06-15-waymo","kind":"recall","headline":"Waymo recalls 672 robotaxis after collision with telephone pole in Phoenix","summary":"Waymo issued voluntary recall for 672 vehicles following a collision with a telephone pole in Phoenix. Separate from the 3,900 vehicle construction zone recall.","occurredAt":"2026-06-15T12:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"unreviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":"2128addc-20c8-4c31-aef5-be5ada97aede","aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"moderate","rootCauseCategory":null,"rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":null,"regulatoryAction":"recall_ordered","regulatoryBody":"NHTSA","propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":null,"fatalityCount":null,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-03T17:31:51.074Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-03T17:31:51.074Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":{"id":"2128addc-20c8-4c31-aef5-be5ada97aede","name":"Waymo","slug":"waymo","description":"Alphabet's autonomous-driving subsidiary and the most commercially advanced robotaxi operator in the world. Originally the Google Self-Driving Car Project (2009), spun out as Waymo in 2016, it operates the Waymo One ride-hailing service across roughly 11 U.S. metropolitan markets using its sixth-generation [Waymo Driver](/brains/waymo-driver) (on Jaguar I-PACE vehicles).\n\nScale: Waymo provides approximately 500,000 paid rides per week (up from ~250,000 a year earlier) and is targeting 1 million weekly rides by the end of 2026. It completed about 15 million rides in 2025 (tripling year-over-year) and has surpassed 20 million lifetime rides, across 127+ million miles of fully autonomous driving.\n\nFinancials: In February 2026 Waymo closed a $16 billion Series D round at a $126 billion post-money valuation, the largest autonomous-vehicle funding round on record, more than double its $45B October-2024 valuation, bringing total funding raised to roughly $27 billion. Alphabet funds the majority; the round drew Sequoia, Dragoneer, DST Global, a16z, Mubadala, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, T. Rowe Price and others. Annual recurring revenue reportedly exceeded $350 million in 2025 (~$15-20 average fare).\n\nSafety positioning (Waymo's own claims): Waymo states its driver is 'statistically superior to human driving,' citing a 90% reduction in serious-injury crashes across 127 million autonomous miles. These are company-stated figures.\n\nAccountability / scrutiny: Despite that positioning, rapid expansion has produced regulatory actions: a voluntary software recall after vehicles illegally passed stopped school buses in Texas (NHTSA investigation opened), a ~3,800-vehicle voluntary recall tied to San Antonio floodwater incidents, an NTSB investigation into the Texas school-bus violations, and an NHTSA investigation into a January 2026 incident in which a Waymo struck a child near a Santa Monica school (minor injuries). Waymo temporarily suspended freeway rides in May 2026 after vehicles struggled in construction zones.\n\nExpansion: Waymo plans 20+ additional cities in 2026 (Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, Washington DC and more) plus its first international markets, London and Tokyo. Forward plans, distinct from current operating markets.","status":"Alphabet subsidiary","founded":2009,"hq":"Mountain View, California, USA","fundingTotal":"27000000000","type":"both","reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://waymo.com","label":"Waymo — Company website"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waymo","label":"Wikipedia — Waymo (history, operations, ownership)"},{"id":"62df3f1f-807b-451f-a3cd-c64314901f99","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-halts-freeway-rides-after-robotaxis-struggle-in-construction-zones/","label":"Waymo halts freeway rides May 2026 after construction-zone struggles","title":"Waymo halts freeway rides May 2026 after construction-zone struggles","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2026-05-21"},{"url":"https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/waymo-raises-usd16-billion-investment-round/","label":"Waymo $16B round, $126B valuation, 127M miles/90% serious-injury reduction, 15M 2025 rides, 20M lifetime","title":"Waymo $16B round, $126B valuation, 127M miles/90% serious-injury reduction, 15M 2025 rides, 20M lifetime","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"Waymo","publishedAt":"2026-02-02"},{"url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/02/waymo-announced-16-billion-fundraising-round.html","label":"Waymo $16B at $126B post-money, 2x Oct-2024 $45B; markets + 2026 expansion plans","title":"Waymo $16B at $126B post-money, 2x Oct-2024 $45B; markets + 2026 expansion plans","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"CNBC","publishedAt":"2026-02-02"},{"url":"https://sacra.com/c/waymo/","label":"Waymo financials — Series D detail, ~$27B total raised, weekly-ride growth, revenue/fare","title":"Waymo financials — Series D detail, ~$27B total raised, weekly-ride growth, revenue/fare","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"Sacra","publishedAt":"2026-05-01"},{"url":"https://www.thestreet.com/automotive/waymo-recalls-thousands-of-robotaxis-for-a-surprising-reason","label":"500k weekly rides, $126B valuation, San Antonio flood recall, NHTSA/NTSB investigations","title":"500k weekly rides, $126B valuation, San Antonio flood recall, NHTSA/NTSB investigations","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"TheStreet","publishedAt":"2026-05-12"},{"url":"https://electrek.co/2026/05/26/tesla-robotaxi-fleet-shrinking-not-growing/","label":"Reported in Tesla-fleet context: Waymo ~3,000 robotaxis, Mesa AZ Magna facility for 2,000+ more, Atlanta/Miami/DC launches","title":"Reported in Tesla-fleet context: Waymo ~3,000 robotaxis, Mesa AZ Magna facility for 2,000+ more, Atlanta/Miami/DC launches","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"Electrek","publishedAt":"2026-05-26"},{"id":"7807045f-35a5-4c3c-8800-88b4d5bc017e","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/28/waymos-newest-robotaxi-is-chinese-made-built-to-make-money-and-now-accepting-riders/","label":"Waymo’s newest robotaxi is Chinese-made, built to make money, and now accepting riders","title":"Waymo’s newest robotaxi is Chinese-made, built to make money, and now accepting riders","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"Transportation & Auto News | TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2026-05-28T16:52:48.000Z"},{"id":"df1ee926-9a90-49fd-85a6-fe5d3a51adc2","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/28/waymo-dominates-texas-autonomous-vehicle-registrations-as-tesla-trails-behind/","label":"Waymo dominates autonomous vehicle registrations as Tesla trails behind","title":"Waymo dominates autonomous vehicle registrations as Tesla trails behind","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"Transportation & Auto News | TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2026-05-29T00:14:35.000Z"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Valuation","value":"$126B post-money (Feb 2026 Series D)"},{"label":"Funding raised","value":"~$27B lifetime ($16B Series D, Feb 2026, largest AV round ever)"},{"label":"Weekly rides","value":"~500,000 paid/week (targeting 1M by end-2026)"},{"label":"Ride volume","value":"15M in 2025; 20M+ lifetime"},{"label":"Autonomous miles","value":"127M+ fully autonomous"},{"label":"Safety claim (Waymo)","value":"90% fewer serious-injury crashes vs. humans (company-stated)"},{"label":"Operating markets","value":"~11 US metros (Waymo One)"},{"label":"Vehicle","value":"Jaguar I-PACE, 6th-gen Waymo Driver"},{"label":"Recent recalls","value":"School-bus passing; ~3,800-vehicle San Antonio flood recall"},{"label":"Active investigations","value":"NHTSA (Santa Monica child injury); NTSB (TX school-bus)"},{"label":"wikidata","value":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15330"},{"label":"wikipedia","value":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waymo"}],"aliases":["Waymo LLC","Waymo One","Google Self-Driving Car Project"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":"greenhouse","atsSlug":"waymo","createdAt":"2026-05-25T03:56:10.060Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-29T05:09:34.546Z"},"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"c353e43d-6144-46bf-b50b-3377e75a5e9b","incidentId":"a425a082-3643-4d1b-8d9e-283c8012c5de","url":"https://www.facebook.com/witntv/posts/waymo-is-recalling-thousands-of-robotaxis-heres-whystory/1433626145464089/","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"Waymo is recalling thousands of robotaxis","sourceName":"WITN","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-03T17:31:51.233Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-03T17:31:51.233Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[{"id":"82eaddc6-2228-48c7-9732-b46be48c2fa0","incidentId":"a425a082-3643-4d1b-8d9e-283c8012c5de","status":"active","reason":null,"source":"agent:depth","effectiveAt":"2026-07-03T17:31:51.388Z","createdAt":"2026-07-03T17:31:51.389Z"}],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/recall-2026-06-15-waymo","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/recall-2026-06-15-waymo","headline":"Waymo recalls 672 robotaxis after collision with telephone pole in Phoenix","description":"Waymo issued voluntary recall for 672 vehicles following a collision with a telephone pole in Phoenix. Separate from the 3,900 vehicle construction zone recall.","identifier":"a425a082-3643-4d1b-8d9e-283c8012c5de","datePublished":"2026-06-15T12:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"recall","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"unreviewed","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":1,"primary_source_types":[]}}}