A Los Angeles man said he recently missed his flight home after getting trapped on his way to the airport in a Waymo that wouldn’t stop making circles in a parking lot. “Customer service is automated and ran by AI.” 🤦🏾‍♀️ www.latimes.com/california/s... - ThreadSky

erika-d-smith.bsky.social • 55 days ago

A Los Angeles man said he recently missed his flight home after getting trapped on his way to the airport in a Waymo that wouldn’t stop making circles in a parking lot.

“Customer service is automated and ran by AI.”

🤦🏾‍♀️
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-05/los-angeles-man-trapped-in-circling-waymo-says-he-missed-his-flight-home

Comments

duncanives.bsky.social•55 days ago

So if that could happen, why couldn't other malfunctions happen such as driving at high speeds into walls?

raptornx01.bsky.social•54 days ago

give it time

aniccia.bsky.social•54 days ago

Phoenix, October 2023, among >30 incidents for which Waymo is under Federal/NHTSA safety investigation:

aquillespoirot.bsky.social•54 days ago

They can happen, and they will happen.

sharkhand.bsky.social•54 days ago

life imitating art

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-trd_f6j3eI

ceejaa.bsky.social•55 days ago

Fun times were had by all.

hauntedpumpkin.bsky.social•54 days ago

Hold on, hold on, I'm trying to dig up some sympathy for someone choosing an AI crapmobile to cut a driver out of a job. I'm sure I have some somewhere.

katekilla.bsky.social•54 days ago

I feel like the point here isn't sympathy or scorn for that individual, but a grim harbinger of the future for us all.

hauntedpumpkin.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yeah, but also we can choose not to participate in that future. Getting in a driverless taxi is still a choice, and we can just stop making that choice. If enough of us don't use them they fail. I don't have faith that people will choose not to, they won't even vote, but the possibility is there.

terraistrying.bsky.social•54 days ago

https://youtu.be/040ejWnFkj0?si=hAM88Vz6e9qnGYFP

jeremydenk.bsky.social•54 days ago

the man did not miss his flight and the headline is false and you should retract this post

webrant.bsky.social•55 days ago

Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the owner of google, that claims to employ over 2500 people.

anadromy.bsky.social•54 days ago

These stories will increase. This tech will get worse not better. This will be a capital intensive, low margin business.

painedumonde.bsky.social•55 days ago

This is the price of progress. Skeletons chauffeured about the city...

ahaberlach.bsky.social•51 days ago

Some useful information from an interview with the guy: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/08/we-talked-to-the-guy-who-was-stuck-in-a-waymo-robotaxi-on-an-dizzying-loop/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky

ahaberlach.bsky.social•55 days ago

Not defending messed up customer service or car issues, but the statement that customer service is run by AI is from the unhappy customer, not from Waymo.

(But yeah, I would love to know what happened, this is not the experience I've had)

rismith.bsky.social•54 days ago

Customer Service being run by AI would be an upgrade from Google's normal CS experience, which is that it simply does not exist.

erika-d-smith.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes, the quote is definitely from the customer. That said, I do hope Waymo puts out some sort of statement at some point to explain what happened and why.

raptornx01.bsky.social•54 days ago

it happened because its fucking Ai. only a moron would use it.

the1th.bsky.social•54 days ago

Story says he missed his flight. His LI says he didn’t -only “nearly missed.”

the1th.bsky.social•54 days ago

It’s also funny to see all the press that reached out to him in replies. Press is so hungry to report on a glitch like this. But in meantime there have been over 2 million rides that were successful. How many Uber/Lyft rides out of a million have had accidents or other unpleasant issues?

terraistrying.bsky.social•54 days ago

AVs are bad. They have killed people. And saying they’re not as bad as ride sharing is ridiculous. https://youtu.be/040ejWnFkj0?si=hAM88Vz6e9qnGYFP First there are far fewer. Second there is currently a class action lawsuit underway due to the prevalence of sexual assaults in Ubers and Lyfts.

terraistrying.bsky.social•54 days ago

In case anyone disputes my deaths assertion. Here are some stats

the1th.bsky.social•54 days ago

I don’t know much about Tesla. But that first bullet point just says that most Autonomous Driving System (ADS) accidents involved the system responsible for 90%+ of all ADS driving. I mean, sure … It’s like saying “Human drivers cause 100% of all human driving accidents!”

the1th.bsky.social•54 days ago

How many sexual assaults has a Waymo committed?

terraistrying.bsky.social•54 days ago

You were comparing them to Uber and Lyft and I stated they are no better. And yes, an AV cannot assault someone but certainly can kill them. And when they accept multiple fares to destinations like Uber and Lyft do, I sure cannot wait to be locked in one with a sex offender.

the1th.bsky.social•54 days ago

All data shows that Waymos are far safer than human driving. Meanwhile, we know that human driving is one of the leading causes of accidental deaths. And yes, I would not recommend you get into a car with a complete stranger. That has nothing to do with AV or not.

peter415.bsky.social•55 days ago

pkpd-babe.bsky.social•55 days ago

AI is def gonna save us from the climate crisis.

jaredgonia.bsky.social•55 days ago

There's not like an e-stop button in those death machines?

danfarina.bsky.social•55 days ago

There’s a pull over button. Maybe it didn’t work?

shoesnsocks.bsky.social•54 days ago

Are these cheaper or electric only or any other benefit over uber/ Lyft/ taxi? Not inclined to use these things

ilikehikes.bsky.social•54 days ago

They are just bad. Cause traffic, and scary to be around (hard to navigate an intersection if you can’t make eye contact with a driver) and then they do stuff like this

shoesnsocks.bsky.social•54 days ago

Why would someone want to take a Waymo? 😂 too soon for me

alyssonfergison.bsky.social•55 days ago

I lovely reminder that early adopters of anything are truly nothing but guinea pigs... and sometimes they're literally gambling with their lives. This is funny because it was just circling in a parking lot. It'll be less funny when it drives off an overpass or into a body of water.

infinite-loopy.bsky.social•54 days ago

Waymo has a pretty bad record in San Francisco but the city gave them the green light to expand their operations anyway

aniccia.bsky.social•54 days ago

San Francisco has no authority to permit, deny, or cap Waymo's service. Local gov are preempted from regulating ADS/AV by state law in every state where Waymo operates.

FWIW, Waymo practically wrote the 2012 California AV law, signed by the then governor on stage at Google HQ:

alyssonfergison.bsky.social•55 days ago

*A

I swear sometimes text changes in transit here. I don't even know how the A to I typo happens. They're different typing hands!

seanherrala.bsky.social•55 days ago

davidaugust.bsky.social•55 days ago

There are charges fourthcoming, against Waymo CEO, board & shareholders as well as the company itself, right? Violating California Penal Code § 236 PC (defines false imprisonment as unlawfully restraining, detaining, or confining a person against his or her will) is serious and companies are people…

tvbrain.bsky.social•55 days ago

I felt bad until he said ran instead of run.

shoesnsocks.bsky.social•54 days ago

Hahaha same

tvbrain.bsky.social•54 days ago

It’s an epidemic.

brassclothes.bsky.social•54 days ago

That quote about customer service being run by AI appears to have been removed from the article, interestingly.

rockymtnmom.bsky.social•54 days ago

marcea.bsky.social•55 days ago

Couldn’t help but laugh at this part of the article:

“You’d think by now Waymo would email, text or call for a follow-up,” he wrote. “Nope, customer service is automated and ran by AI.” — says the guy who is a “tech entrepreneur” and “works on AI initiatives”

aquillespoirot.bsky.social•54 days ago

To me, it's FAFO all the way

reneepatrice.bsky.social•55 days ago

I've seen these so many times in LA! I didn't realize they were self-driving. I thought they were google maps cars.

shoesnsocks.bsky.social•54 days ago

Me too!

wrongbottom.bsky.social•54 days ago

@paulisci.bsky.social

alysondecker.bsky.social•54 days ago

I feel like they should install an emergency stop button for passengers.

erika-d-smith.bsky.social•54 days ago

For many reasons, it’s a good idea.

jeremydenk.bsky.social•54 days ago

They have one. You are sharing misinformation

erika-d-smith.bsky.social•54 days ago

Misinformation? My understanding is there’s indeed an option in the app that connects to Waymo assistance. Hence, the story, if you actually read it. Problem is the situation wasn’t quite treated like an emergency. Hence the calls for an emergency button that would connect to someone who would.

jeremydenk.bsky.social•54 days ago

And you should make clear to your followers that the headline is garbage

jeremydenk.bsky.social•54 days ago

The headline is misinfo if you read the article … he made his flight. The delay lasted five minutes. There is a button in Waymo to pull over or contact support. Don’t know why la times would publish such an intentionally misleading headline

isaaccp.bsky.social•54 days ago

There is a button in the car itself that says "pull over" or similar.

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