--- title: "As Waymo Debuts in Philadelphia, It May Want to Look Into the Time Furious Locals Tore Apart an Adorable Robot" description: "Waymo is bringing its driverless cabs to Philly, the city that beheaded a child-sized robot for fun back in 2015. What could go wrong?" date: "2025-07-09" modified: "2025-07-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/waymo-philly-hitchbot-debacle" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" tags: - "driverless taxi" - "philadelphia" - "robots" - "waymo" --- # As Waymo Debuts in Philadelphia, It May Want to Look Into the Time Furious Locals Tore Apart an Adorable Robot ![Waymo is bringing its driverless cabs to Philly, the city that beheaded a child-sized robot for fun back in 2015. What could go wrong?]() *\Image: Friso Gentsch / picture alliance / Len Redkoles / NHLI via Getty / Futurism\* The City of Brotherly Love is known for lots of things: [cheesesteaks](), the [Liberty Bell](), [Paddy's Pub](), and residents who [don't take kindly to outsiders]() messing around in their business. Way back in 2015, Philadelphians' territorial nature briefly became national news when hitchBOT — a child-size hitchhiking robot that relied on the kindness of strangers and had already traversed several entire countries with their help — arrived in Philadelphia and quickly got [decapitated by furious locals](). The [beheading of hitchBOT]() became something of a joking cautionary tale in Philly lore — which is why it's so bizarre that Waymo, Google's driverless cab service, has decided to come to the same town that brutalized the little robot. On social media, residents were bemused and peeved — which is, to be fair, the average mix of emotions experienced by Philadelphians — to learn that the autonomous cabs that just a few weeks ago were being [burned in protest in Los Angeles]() were now coming to their fair city. "Close enough, welcome back HitchBOT," [tweeted Semafor social media editor]() Josh Billinson. "Philly beat \[an\] innocent toy robot to death for no reason," [quipped a Bluesky user](). "Good luck waymo." In another post on the Twitter expat site, a [self-proclaimed Philly resident]() said they saw one of the Waymos in their parking lot and questioned the intelligence of bringing the driverless cabs to town. "I don't think Philly is the best place to test this," the user aptly observed. Over on Reddit, users were similarly snide. "Look how bad we f\*cked up Hitchbot," one user on the [r/Philly subreddit said](). "Waymo is gonna be stripped in port Richmond first week." "Don't forget what happened to the last robot sent to Philly," another user on the [more buttoned-up r/Philadelphia sub noted](). Despite its splashy, backlash-laden debut, the Waymo rollout in Philly is doubly restricted. For now, the Jaguars used for the driverless cab service are being [helmed by human safety drivers]() and are not yet available to hail as the cars document the lay of the land before considering a more formal launch. New York City, for once not the center of attention, is also being graced with Waymo "[road trip]()" test drives this week. Although the Big Apple's robot hatred isn't anywhere near as vitriolic as Philly's, residents were filmed [flipping off and knocking over]() a friendly trash-can-bot that was being tested out in Lower Manhattan's Astor Place a few years ago. **More on driverless disasters:** [*First Tesla Drives Autonomously From Dealer to Buyer's House, Ends in Embarrassing Flub*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()