AI CEOs rush to help self-driving car after crash

Just as a bunch of CEOs were leaving an after party organized by the startup accelerator firm Y Combinator, a self-driving car rammed a trolleybus in San Francisco. A video showing the CEOs stopping by and helping the Artificial Intelligence-driven vehicle has gone viral on social media. The 1-minute clip showed a bunch of men pushing down on the car while attempting to move it out of the way.

Brazilian CEO, Freddy Vega shared the incident and posted on X (formerly Twitter), “A Waymo car driven by AI crashed with a Muni bus driven by a human in San Francisco. Right in front of YC’s founder after party. So here’s a bunch of CEOs trying to help a helpless robot find his way again.”  

The one-minute clip demonstrates that many men gathered around the car and attempting to push it out of the way. The AI-powered car remained stuck after all their efforts, attempting to push it out of the way. Vega humorously dubbed the scene “founder mode,” a reference to the proactive, problem-solving mentality that startup founders often take on.    

Formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, Waymo is a known for the development of autonomous driving technology. The company is launched in 2009 as a division under Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, Waymo has led the charge in creating self-driving vehicles designed to navigate public roads without human intervention. By leveraging advanced AI systems, radar, lidar sensors and cameras, the company aims to make transportation safer, easier, and more accessible.

“The irony is that we are all coming from an AI retreat, discussing the future of automation,” Vega said in his video. “And here’s this AI totally stuck, blocking a lot of traffic.” Despite multiple attempts, the car’s battery eventually died.

Fortunately, the bus was able to move from the scene, leaving the self-driving vehicle behind.

When asked how the experience was, one of the founders joked that it was a struggle but that “founder mode” ultimately helped get them through.