Waymo Scales Back Service Across US Amid ‘No Kings’ Protests

After several Waymo robotaxis were set ablaze during anti-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in Los Angeles, the company is now limiting its robotaxi service in locations across the US ahead of nationwide “no kings” protests planned for Saturday, June 14.

The move will impact operations in San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix, Wired reports. Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, will also pause operations altogether in Los Angeles, after it suspended operations in the downtown area earlier this week. Waymo didn’t say how long the service interruptions are set to last.

The Los Angeles Times reports that at least six Waymo vehicles were damaged last weekend; at least three were set on fire.

From a business point of view, the move shouldn’t be surprising. Each Waymo-branded robotaxi is estimated to cost north of $100,000. However, this isn’t the first time Waymo has seen its vehicles become victims of civil unrest. In February 2024, a driverless Waymo vehicle was set on fire in San Francisco’s Chinatown. A few months later, a man was charged with allegedly slashing the tires of 17 Waymo vehicles in San Francisco.

Though Waymo vehicles may simply have been caught up in the unrest during the protests, there has been plenty of opposition to driverless taxi services like Waymo in California, with residents (and emergency responders) voicing concerns about safety and job loss.

Protesters might also have been aware that robotaxi firms are complying with requests for data captured by the vehicles’ cameras. In April, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) published footage of a hit-and-run obtained from a Waymo vehicle’s camera on social media, appealing to the public for information.

The next test of the public’s appetite for robotaxis will come later this month when Tesla rolls out its own service in Austin. Tesla critic Dan O’Dowd is already in the Texas capital running tests that he says shows a self-driving Tesla driving through a school bus stop sign and hitting child-size mannequins, KXAN Austin reports. There’s no love lost between O’Dowd and Tesla CEO Elon Musk however.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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