Waymo, the autonomous driving subsidiary of Alphabet, reported that a widespread power cut struck San Francisco last weekend. This outage caused its self-driving taxis to become immobilized due to system malfunctions, subsequently leading to traffic snarls. While Waymo had programmed its vehicles to adhere to four-way stop protocols in the absence of functioning traffic signals, the power disruption triggered a surge in manual confirmation requests. This, in turn, extended the response time to address vehicle malfunctions. Consequently, Waymo declared a temporary halt to its services. The root cause of the power cut was traced back to a fire at a substation operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Waymo has stated that it is implementing strategies to incorporate more localized power outage data into its software. Additionally, it is working closely with the Mayor of San Francisco to establish emergency response protocols and is in the process of revising training materials for emergency personnel.