{"id":"afa981dd-971b-499c-ab9e-06e55afc64c7","slug":"waymo-san-antonio-flood-recall-2026-05","kind":"recall","headline":"Waymo issued a software recall and halted San Antonio service over robotaxis driving into floods (May 2026)","summary":"In May 2026, Waymo announced a software recall intended to help its robotaxi fleet avoid flooded areas in San Antonio, Texas, where service had been halted for several weeks while the company worked on a more permanent fix. The action was part of a broader effort to address Waymo robotaxis driving into flooded areas, which also led to a service suspension in Atlanta.","occurredAt":"2026-05-14T00:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"reviewed","modelId":"c9a56a6c-55d4-40e3-b080-70a6f04e6956","deploymentId":"204a4a25-abb1-41a7-84e3-55ae8632c730","companyId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-25T23:18:00.557Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-26T00:12:18.265Z","model":{"id":"c9a56a6c-55d4-40e3-b080-70a6f04e6956","companyId":"2128addc-20c8-4c31-aef5-be5ada97aede","modelName":"Waymo Driver 6th-gen","slug":"waymo-driver-gen6","description":"The sixth-generation Waymo Driver is Waymo's autonomous driving stack for fully autonomous robotaxi service. The platform integrates 13 cameras, 4 lidars, 6 radars, and external audio receivers, with overlapping 360° coverage and a detection range up to roughly 500 meters in nominal conditions. Compared to the fifth-generation system on the Jaguar I-PACE, the sixth-gen system uses 42% fewer total sensors. Waymo says the per-unit hardware cost is targeted under $20,000 — a more than 50% reduction from the 5th-gen system. Currently runs on the Zeekr RT (sold as the “Ojai” robotaxi, purpose-built without a steering wheel or pedals) and the Hyundai IONIQ 5; began fully autonomous commercial operations in February 2026.","formFactor":"av","maturityStage":"commercial","specs":{"drive_mode":"fully_autonomous","generation":6,"lidar_count":4,"radar_count":6,"camera_count":13,"vehicle_platforms":"Zeekr RT (Ojai); Hyundai IONIQ 5","external_audio_receivers":true,"detection_range_m_nominal_approx":500,"target_unit_cost_usd_under_waymo_stated":20000},"manufacturerSerial":null,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://waymo.com/blog/2024/08/meet-the-6th-generation-waymo-driver/","label":"Waymo blog — Meet the 6th-generation Waymo Driver (primary announcement, sensor suite + cost targets)","publishedAt":"2024-08-19"},{"url":"https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/ro-on-6th-gen-waymo-driver/","label":"Waymo blog — Beginning fully autonomous operations with the 6th-gen Driver (primary, commercial launch)","publishedAt":"2026-02-12"},{"url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/waymo-begins-deploying-next-gen-ojai-robotaxis-to-extend-its-us-lead.html","label":"CNBC — Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis (third-party trade coverage of the launch)","publishedAt":"2026-02-12"},{"url":"https://www.wardsauto.com/news/archive-auto-waymo-6th-generation-driver-autonomous-driving-hardware-robotaxi-lidar-ai/725519/","label":"WardsAuto — Inside the 6th-generation Waymo Driver (third-party deep-dive on the hardware suite)","publishedAt":"2024-08-29"}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-25T04:41:57.633Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-25T19:43:05.059Z"},"deployment":{"id":"204a4a25-abb1-41a7-84e3-55ae8632c730","modelId":"c9a56a6c-55d4-40e3-b080-70a6f04e6956","versionId":null,"locationId":"1bfadeb9-800b-46f1-80bb-e802ad0159ac","operatorId":null,"ownerId":null,"slug":"waymo-driver-gen6-san-antonio","status":"paused","firstSeen":"2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","manufacturerSerial":null,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-pauses-atlanta-service-as-its-robotaxis-keep-driving-into-floods/","label":"TechCrunch — Waymo San Antonio service halted, software recall for flooding","title":"TechCrunch — Waymo San Antonio service halted, software recall for flooding","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2026-05-21"},{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-halts-freeway-rides-after-robotaxis-struggle-in-construction-zones/","label":"Extracted by /admin/extract (awaiting human review)","title":"Extracted by /admin/extract (awaiting human review)","mediaType":"article","sourceName":"machine-extracted","publishedAt":"2026-05-21"}],"reviewNote":"[machine-extracted from https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-halts-freeway-rides-after-robotaxis-struggle-in-construction-zones/]","createdAt":"2026-05-25T23:17:59.617Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-26T00:02:43.892Z"},"company":null,"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"4b726717-6654-47e4-a94c-07253af7b50e","incidentId":"afa981dd-971b-499c-ab9e-06e55afc64c7","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-pauses-atlanta-service-as-its-robotaxis-keep-driving-into-floods/","label":"TechCrunch — Waymo software recall for flooding, San Antonio service halted","publishedAt":"2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"TechCrunch — Waymo software recall for flooding, San Antonio service halted","sourceName":"TechCrunch","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-25T23:18:00.869Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-26T00:12:17.785Z"},{"id":"d1619ed6-79ff-4f36-a722-387d0a6c1ebd","incidentId":"afa981dd-971b-499c-ab9e-06e55afc64c7","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/waymo-suspends-freeway-service/","label":"TechCrunch — San Antonio recall referenced in freeway-suspension coverage","publishedAt":"2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"TechCrunch — San Antonio recall referenced in freeway-suspension coverage","sourceName":"TechCrunch","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-25T23:18:01.105Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-25T23:18:01.105Z"},{"id":"dbc944d8-49ba-411f-9122-dc6726b275bf","incidentId":"afa981dd-971b-499c-ab9e-06e55afc64c7","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-halts-freeway-rides-after-robotaxis-struggle-in-construction-zones/","label":"TechCrunch — San Antonio recall referenced in freeway-suspension coverage","publishedAt":"2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"TechCrunch — San Antonio recall referenced in freeway-suspension coverage","sourceName":"TechCrunch","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-05-26T00:12:18.025Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-26T00:12:18.025Z"}],"responses":[{"id":"e507eb64-2d61-4347-9172-fa3ca0ba2c94","incidentId":"afa981dd-971b-499c-ab9e-06e55afc64c7","respondentName":"Waymo","respondentRole":"operator","body":"Waymo issued the recall as an interim measure to address flooded-area handling while service remained paused in San Antonio pending a permanent fix.","respondedAt":"2026-05-14T00:00:00.000Z","provenance":{"tier":"reported","assertedBy":{"name":"Waymo","entityId":"2128addc-20c8-4c31-aef5-be5ada97aede"},"confidence":0.9,"reportedVia":{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/21/waymo-pauses-atlanta-service-as-its-robotaxis-keep-driving-into-floods/","title":"Waymo software recall for flooding; San Antonio service halted","sourceName":"TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2026-05-21"}},"createdAt":"2026-05-26T00:12:18.185Z"}],"statusEvents":[]}