Are AIs talking to each other by honking at 4 a.m.?
In one San Francisco parking lot, over three dozen autonomous Waymo vehicles have been honking at each other for several weeks. NBC Bay Area first reported the issue, citing several residents who said that the robotaxis were waking them up at about 4 or 5 a.m. in the morning.
Waymo explained that one robotaxi would honk if another car gets too close while reversing to avoid collisions, and said they’d implemented a software update to resolve the late-night honking.
But all was not resolved. The Verge reported over the weekend that the honking started happening for a new reason, when too many robotaxis lined up to return to the lot at once and a chain reaction of honking was set off.
One resident, Sophia Tung, set up a webcam outside of her apartment to capture the lot and eventually turned it into a LoFi Waymo Hip Hop Radio, which has drawn listeners from all over the world. Tung is planning to interview Waymo’s director of product management this afternoon and is taking requests.
But all was not resolved. The Verge reported over the weekend that the honking started happening for a new reason, when too many robotaxis lined up to return to the lot at once and a chain reaction of honking was set off.
One resident, Sophia Tung, set up a webcam outside of her apartment to capture the lot and eventually turned it into a LoFi Waymo Hip Hop Radio, which has drawn listeners from all over the world. Tung is planning to interview Waymo’s director of product management this afternoon and is taking requests.
