Waymo Recalls Previous Software After Phoenix Collisions Reveal Perception Blind Spot

Waymo filed a voluntary recall with NHTSA for earlier software following two December 2023 collisions in Phoenix with improperly towed vehicles positioned across traffic lanes. The incidents caused no injuries but exposed a failure in the autonomous system's object classification when confronted with backwards-facing, oddly angled obstacles. The company deployed corrective software in December 2023 targeting perception and trajectory planning.