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Capitalized profits, socialized losses
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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Technology
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But this was not an isolated incident. Waymo has relied on taxpayer-funded first responders to navigate its vehicles when they encounter issues
This should be more than enough reason to cancel their operating permit (whatever it is called) immediately.
When this automation fad showed up, many people pointed out that there would be plenty of cases where the training data just didn't cover edge-cases. Problem is, life is FULL of edge-cases. This is where humans are uniquely good at improvising and adapting in real-time, when faced with previously unknown situations.
In fact, you can argue humans are really, really good at handling exceptions to the rule. Pretty much the textbook definition of "creativity."
sounds like they needed to call a tow truck....
I was going to suggest charging the company an exorbitant fee for each incident but your idea is better.
win-win, tow companies fill their lots with waymo, people from waymo need to come get the car, pay hundreds in cash (because all those places are cash only) there's no room in the lot for normal tows.
The passengers should get free rides for a year.
What do you mean they're cash only? I've paid by card (credit card even) to have my car towed when it just died while sitting in traffic, and again when I needed to move a tool box. What in the world?
You weren't paying to get your car back. Different kind of towing.
In plenty of places (in the US) it's the exact same companies doing both. Mack Towing is a pretty good example. The police where I live use them to tow vehicles that are illegal parked or considered abandoned. Those places charge a fee ($400 per day) to the person who owns the vehicle and the fee must be paid before the vehicle will be returned to the customer. They really don't only deal in cash (although I can understand why they might not take credit card payments in this eventuality because of the risk of a chargeback).
A robotow.
I'll see myself out.
Thank you very much, Mr. Robotow
I'll follow you out
Deleted by author
Imagine dying in a house fire because the fireman were on the other side of town taking a traffic cone off of the hood of a robot taxi when the call came in.
This is a good argument for actual robotaxis that aren't just cars with extra servos and sensors bolted on.
"Privatize the profits..."
Socialize the losses! Libertarianism, US style (American exceptionalism).
The image of firefighters rescuing robotaxis is perfect. We build these systems to be fully autonomous but then the whole time there are humans on standby, paid to bail out when the AI hesitates.
Self-driving is like the rest of modern tech. We sell it as magic, then quietly patch the gaps with human labor. But at least this is honest about it. The companies know who is really keeping these things moving.
Government employees.
Your tax dollars at work!
Externalized cost = free
As far as any and every large company is concerned anyway.
But this was not an isolated incident. Waymo has relied on taxpayer-funded first responders to navigate its vehicles when they encounter issues, despite the existence of the company’s own roadside assistance team. In at least six instances identified by TechCrunch, first responders have had to take control of Waymo vehicles and move them out of traffic during emergency situations, including one in which an officer was in the middle of responding to a mass shooting.
That's fine, 'cause they're paying a fee for it, right?
Right?!
Impound them.
But.. but... their profits!
I thought Waymo was the one using overseas drivers to help when needed?
I'm looking forward to the schadenfreude when all this stupid "AI" shit finally blows up.
Imagine having an overabundance of cheap RAM and GPUs
Hopefully the GPUs will actually be useful to someone not running an LLM.
Ah yeah good point. A lot of the ones they use probably don't even have ports.
They see themselves as infrastructure, so then this makes sense. They want to install themselves into our life.
nottheonion