--- title: "Man Launches “World’s First Waymo DDoS” by Ordering 50 Robotaxis to Dead End Street" description: "Over the weekend, a prankster went viral after calling some 50 self-driving cars to \"the longest dead end street in San Francisco.\"" date: "2025-10-14" modified: "2025-10-14" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/waymo-ddos-dead-end" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" --- # Man Launches “World’s First Waymo DDoS” by Ordering 50 Robotaxis to Dead End Street ![Over the weekend, a prankster went viral after calling some 50 self-driving cars to "the longest dead end street in San Francisco."]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* As the old saying goes: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's a mindset that's been fully embraced by Riley Walz, a 23-year-old "tech prankster" who runs a popular account on X-formerly-Twitter. Over the weekend, Walz [went viral]() after posting about the "world's first Waymo DDoS," a reference to distributed denial-of-service attacks. DDoS is a type of malicious cyberattack in which a hacker tries to drown their target in a swarm of simultaneous requests, typically with the goal of overwhelming networks and disrupting service. Put in real-life terms, it's like if a crowd of protestors swarmed a restaurant, making it hard for real customers to get in, effectively wasting the businesses' time and losing them money. Walz' DDoS attack, while perhaps more mischievous than malicious in intent, was certainly disruptive. "The plan?" he wrote in his post. "At dusk, 50 people went to San Francisco's longest dead-end street and all ordered a Waymo at the same time." When the herd of self-driving cars eventually arrived, Walz wrote that he and his co-conspirators didn't bother getting in. "They left after about 10 min and charged a $5 no show fee," he wrote. "Everyone was giddy, and when another car showed up there were cheers. Maybe 3 or 4 real drivers — all laughed and just drove around." Ultimately, the poster said that Waymo "handled this well." When it realized it was being spammed, the company's ride-hailing app disabled "all rides within a two block vicinity until the morning." "I assume this isn't much different than if a big concert had just ended," Walz speculated. ("That's Waymo than they accounted for," another poster quipped.) Waltz's laid-back attitude makes it pretty clear the stunt was all in good fun, but others have targeted Waymo with real grievances. In 2023, the activist group Safe Street Rebel [carried out]() what it called "The Week of the Cone," protesting driverless Waymos throughout San Francisco with [traffic cones]() placed on the vehicles' hoods. Once in place, the cones are perceived as traffic obstacles, effectively stopping the self-driving cars dead in their tracks. "We're just generally trying to push back on tech really taking over our cities," one of the activists [told *Vice* at the time](), marking a clear distinction between Walz's DDoS prank. "We view these not as some revolutionary new mode of transportation or anything, but really just another way for auto companies... to further entrench car dominance and car reliance in our cities." Earlier this year, after president Donald Trump rolled out federal agents to San Francisco, protestors used Waymos as [makeshift barricades](), calling the autonomous vehicles into the middle of hectic standoffs with riot police before disabling them. One thing's clear: the autonomous cars are making an impression wherever they go — for better or worse. **More on self-driving cars:** *[Waymo’s Self-Driving Taxis Have a Hilarious Problem That’s Driving People Bananas]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()