A Los Angeles resident, Mike Johns, had a frustrating experience with a Waymo self-driving taxi that malfunctioned while taking him to the airport. The car started endlessly circling a parking lot, and Johns couldn’t stop it or get out. He shared a video of the incident online, questioning whether he was dealing with real human support or an AI system.
After about five minutes, the issue was resolved, and Johns made it to the airport in time. Waymo later apologized, saying the problem was fixed with a software update. They also confirmed that Johns wasn’t charged for the ride and tried to contact him via voicemail.
This incident is one of several recent challenges for Waymo in Los Angeles, including an attempted hijacking of one of their autonomous vehicles
