"2026: tipping your Waymo so it doesn’t narc on you for having sex in the back."

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Autonomous taxi service company Waymo is looking to encourage its customers to "add a 'tip'" — even though there's no driver behind the wheel.

According to leaked screenshots obtained by security researcher Jane Wong, the feature appeared on a screen that thanked customers for "riding with us."

But as it turns out, the feature seemingly isn't designed as a way to thank a soulless Jaguar EV; it's "actually for charity donations," Wong clarified in a follow-up, like when point-of-sale systems let you add a small contribution to a worthy nonprofit.

Still, the concept of tipping driverless vehicles still had many on social cracking jokes, as yet another illustration of the spread of tipping fatigue.

"2025: tipping your Waymo for exemplary service," joked New York Times columnist Kevin Roose. "2026: tipping your Waymo so it doesn’t narc on you for having sex in the back."

Some users suggested that Waymo is looking for a tax break by having its customers donate to a charity, but experts have long debunked the idea, pointing out that corporations can't count customer donations as their own.

Instead, Waymo could be looking to score some PR points, given an endless stream of negative news. Just over the weekend, a Waymo cab was trashed by a crowd who tore the vehicle to shreds in the middle of a Los Angeles street.

And that's just a single incident. We've also come across Waymo vehicles creating traffic jams, getting stuck in roundabouts, and even smashing into a delivery robot.

Cab Sauv

Despite plenty of negative press, Waymo has quickly become the driverless taxi company to beat, operating services in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The company is also looking to expand into Atlanta and Austin later this year.

While the company may be looking to raise money for worthy causes, though, Waymo is still a long way from turning a profit itself. The New York Times reported in September that Waymo was estimated to have lost around $2 billion over the first half of 2024.

Apart from the tip feature, Wong also discovered that she was able to customize the display affixed to Waymo's vehicle through the accompanying smartphone app.

"I hacked my Waymo into showing weird texts like empty string, ‘wongmjane,’ and emojis as the Car ID, pls don’t ban me or patch it Waymo lol," she tweeted earlier this month.

Unfortunately, the vulnerability was patched by Waymo three days later.

"Good game, it was fun while it lasted," she wrote in a follow-up.

More on Waymo: Furious Crowd Tears Waymo Robotaxi Limb From Limb


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