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October 26th, 2026

Diversions

The Tech Revolution

News of the Weird

By News of the Weird

Published Oct. 23, 2026

 The Tech Revolution

• The California Public Utilities Commission voted to allow Cruise and Waymo to offer paid driverless rides to customers during the day, The New York Times reports.

As Paul Harvey, 74, looked on, a Cruise vehicle in San Francisco drove into a city paving project and became stuck in wet concrete.

"I thought it was funny," Harvey said. "It illustrated how creepy and weird the whole thing is to me."

Rachel Gordon with the San Francisco Department of Public Works noted that no one was hurt, but added, "That portion of the road has to be repaved at Cruise's expense."

Paul Leonardi, a professor of technology management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, chalked up the experience to a teaching moment: "It needs to experience a diverse set of use cases so it can learn, and driving into wet concrete is one of those use cases."

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