Waymo Is Suing Individuals Who Allegedly Smashed and Slashed Its Robotaxis

The individuals of San Francisco haven’t all the time been variety to Waymo’s growing fleet of driverless taxis. The autonomous automobiles, which offer tens of hundreds of rides every week, have been torched, stomped on, and verbally berated in current months. Now Waymo is placing again—within the courts.

This month, the Silicon Valley firm filed a pair of lawsuits, neither of which have been beforehand reported, that demand a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} in damages from two alleged vandals. Waymo attorneys stated in court docket papers that the alleged vandalism, which ruined dozens of tires and a tail finish, are a major menace to the corporate’s fame. Using in a car during which the steering wheel swivels by itself may be scary sufficient. Having to fret about attackers allegedly focusing on the rides may undermine Waymo’s ride-hailing enterprise earlier than it even will get previous its earliest stage.

Waymo, which falls beneath the umbrella of Google mother or father Alphabet, operates a ride-hailing service in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles that’s comparable to Uber and Lyft besides with sensors and software program controlling the driving. Whereas its automobiles haven’t contributed to any recognized lethal crashes, US regulators proceed to probe their sometimes erratic driving. Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp says the corporate all the time prioritizes security and that the lawsuits mirror that technique. She declined additional remark for this story.

In a submitting final week within the California Superior Court docket of San Francisco County, Waymo sued a Tesla Mannequin three driver whom it alleges deliberately rear-ended certainly one of its autonomous Jaguar crossovers. In accordance with the swimsuit, the motive force, Konstantine Nikka-Sher Piterman, claimed in a publish on X that “Waymo simply rekt me” earlier than occurring to ask Tesla CEO Elon Musk for a job. The opposite lawsuit from this month, filed in the identical court docket, targets Ronaile Burton, who allegedly slashed the tires of not less than 19 Waymo automobiles. San Francisco prosecutors have filed felony costs in opposition to her to which she has pleaded not responsible. A listening to is scheduled for Tuesday.

Burton’s public defender, Adam Birka-White, says in a press release that Burton “is somebody in want of assist and never jail” and that prosecutors proceed “to prioritize punishing poor individuals on the behest of firms, on this case involving a tech firm that’s beneath federal investigation for creating harmful circumstances on our streets.”

An legal professional for Burton within the civil case hasn’t been named in court docket data, and Burton is at the moment in jail and couldn’t be reached for remark. Piterman didn’t reply to a voicemail, a LinkedIn message, and emails looking for remark. He hasn’t responded in court docket to the accusations.

Based mostly on out there data from courts in San Francisco and Phoenix, it seems that Waymo hasn’t beforehand filed related lawsuits.

Within the Tesla case, Piterman “unlawfully, maliciously, and deliberately” sped his automotive previous a cease signal and right into a Waymo automotive in San Francisco on March 19, in keeping with the corporate’s swimsuit. When the Waymo tried to drag over, Piterman allegedly drove the Tesla into the Waymo automotive once more. He then allegedly entered the Waymo and later threatened a Waymo consultant who responded to the scene in particular person. San Francisco police cited Piterman, in keeping with the lawsuit. The police didn’t reply to WIRED’s request for remark.