Two young people riding in an autonomous vehicle were arrested in San Francisco after authorities allegedly found them in possession of an illegal “ghost gun.”<\/p>\n
San Francisco Police Department did not identify the operator of the autonomous vehicle, but a Waymo spokesperson confirmed to The Times that the incident involved one of its cars.<\/p>\n
The company pulled the car over after detecting a “violation of our terms of service involving a firearm,” the spokesperson said. The company alerted emergency services and “cooperated fully” with San Francisco police.<\/p>\n
The incident took place shortly before 4 a.m. on Sept. 3 in the city’s Richmond District, the Police Department said in a statement <\/a>Thursday.<\/p>\n The department said officers conducted a “high-risk vehicle stop” and detained the two juvenile passengers \u2014 a boy and girl. The statement did not identify them further.<\/p>\n Officers searched the car and discovered a loaded, AR-style assault rifle, as well as “suspected marijuana and mace spray,” authorities said in the statement.<\/p>\n Read more: Waymo wins approval for drastic expansion in Los Angeles, Bay Area regions<\/a><\/p>\n The investigation remains “open and active,” police said. The passengers were taken into custody and to a juvenile hall.<\/p>\n San Francisco police did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday.<\/p>\n Read more: ‘I feel safer around a Waymo.’ Expansion of autonomous robotaxi service has supporters cheering<\/a><\/p>\n This wasn’t the first time Waymo has tattled on alleged troublemakers. In July, Waymo contacted<\/a> the San Mateo Police Department after two teens were found drinking alcohol and shooting toy guns in the back of a car, authorities said at the time.<\/p>\n Waymo’s roots date back to 2009, when it was founded as Google’s self-driving car project. Waymo spun out of Google in 2016<\/a>, and has since drastically expanded its service footprint. The hat-topped cars are now a fixture in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and even sparked a beeping backlash <\/a>in Santa Monica.<\/p>\n The company this month launched paid service in San Diego, Denver and Tampa, Fla. Last month, it won permission from the California Public Utilities Commission<\/a> to operate in San Diego, Sacramento and communities in Orange and Riverside counties, among others.<\/p>\n The company has occasionally made headlines for bizarre incidents involving its driverless cars. In July, a shirtless man<\/a> in East Hollywood was recorded standing on top of a Waymo while dismantling the car. In 2025, a man in downtown Los Angeles was taken into custody<\/a> when he allegedly tried to get behind the wheel of a Waymo and drive off.<\/p>\n