Waymo issues a voluntary recall on its self-driving vehicle software

Waymo has filed a voluntary recall notice with federal vehicle safety regulators for software that was previously used in their driverless cars, the company announced Tuesday, marking a first for Alphabet's self-driving vehicle unit.

In a company blog post Tuesday, Waymo said the company chose to do the voluntary recall after consulting with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its internal review of two incidents which took place in Phoenix on Dec. 11, 2023, in which two robotaxis crashed into the same towed pickup truck within minutes of each other.

The NHTSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The two collisions involving their robotaxis resulted in only minor vehicle damage and no injuries, Waymo said in the post. No passengers were in the vehicles, according to the post.

Waymo spokesperson Katherine Barna said Waymo's automated driving system, or ADS, incorrectly predicted the "future motion of a towed vehicle," and the company's voluntary recall included updating its software to address this issue. The company updated the software when the cars were returned to Waymo depots for regular maintenance and recharging, not over-the-air or through remote software updates, Barna added.

The software updates were completed by Jan. 12 and did not interrupt Waymo's ride-hailing service, Barna said.

Waymo currently operates its driverless ride-hailing service Waymo One in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin. The company has approximately 700 vehicles total in the Waymo One fleet, with a couple hundred cars in each of its fully autonomous Waymo One service areas, Barna stated.

In recent months, some public backlash has arisen over driverless vehicles and how they are being tested and