Beloved bodega cat killed by driverless Waymo robotaxi: 'People loved him' (nypost.com)

A beloved San Francisco bodega cat known as KitKat was allegedly killed late Monday night after being struck by a Waymo robotaxi near Randa’s Market in the Mission District. According to a 311 complaint and local witnesses, the nine-year-old cat was found under the autonomous vehicle after it made a stop; people say the car did not slow, swerve or otherwise avoid the animal. The loss has provoked local outrage and a small memorial outside the store. Waymo, owned by Alphabet, has not yet commented; the company operates thousands of robotaxis across U.S. cities, including San Francisco. For the AI/ML community this incident highlights persistent real-world edge cases that perception and planning systems still struggle with—small, low-contrast animals at night, ambiguous object classification, and appropriate failsafe behavior. Technically, it raises questions about sensor fusion limits (camera vs. lidar vs. radar), training data coverage for small moving creatures in low light, and decision-making thresholds that should trigger braking or evasive maneuvers. Beyond model improvements (more diverse datasets, nighttime augmentation, thermal sensors, simulation of rare events), there are policy implications: transparency and rapid incident reporting, conservative speed/behavior policies in mixed urban environments, and testing standards to rebuild public trust. Incidents like this can slow adoption unless companies demonstrate robust handling of these everyday but safety-critical scenarios.