Waymo recalls most of its self-driving vehicles due to software glitch

Alphabet's Waymo is recalling most of its self-driving vehicles due to a software glitch after some cars collided with road barriers, the company said on Wednesday.

The recall affects 1,212 Waymo vehicles operating on the company's older fifth-generation automated driving system (ADS) software.

Waymo has more than 1,500 vehicles on the road in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin.

The affected vehicles, some of which collided with chains, gates and other gate-like barriers, did not result in any injuries, Waymo said in a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The issue has been fixed with its latest sixth-generation self-driving software, Waymo said, adding it had deployed its latest ADS software version across its entire fleet by the end of December.

Self-driving vehicle companies, including Waymo and General Motors' Cruise, have come under increased regulatory scrutiny after a 2023 incident where a pedestrian was seriously injured by a Cruise vehicle.

Waymo recalled more than 670 vehicles last June after one of them struck a wooden utility pole in Phoenix, Arizona, in May.

That recall came after an NHTSA investigation into Waymo after 22 reports of Waymo's robotaxis exhibiting driving behaviour that potentially violated traffic safety laws or demonstrating other “unexpected behaviour”, including 17 collisions.