• Riders are reportedly using San Francisco’s self-driving taxis, operated by Cruise, to hook up.
• A 2018 study predicted that more autonomous vehicles could mean more sex on the road.
• The cars have cameras and microphones for safety, and Cruise prohibits “inappropriate behavior.”

With no one in the front seat driving, some people are using self-driving taxis for a little bit more than just transportation.

The San Francisco Standard spoke to four separate individuals in the city who said they have either fooled around or had sex in one of the robotaxis from autonomous vehicle company Cruise over the last few months.

Cruise and Waymo have been operating fully driverless vehicles in San Francisco since early 2022, and got the go-ahead last week from the city to further expand their services and offer fully driverless rides 24/7 going forward. Cruise operates about 300 vehicles at night and 100 during the day, the company revealed at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing, according to the Standard. Waymo has a fleet of 250 robotaxis in service, a spokesperson confirmed to Insider.

“It seems like I’m a trailblazer,” one passenger told the Standard. The publication granted him and all others named in the piece anonymity, but referred to him by the alias Alex. “It’s also fun to realize that this is like the first place you can do this in the country.” 

Alex told the Standard that he’s had sex in robotaxis three times. 

One of Alex’s partners in robotaxi sex, whom the Standard called Megan, said that her encounter with Alex was her first time ever riding in an autonomous vehicle.

“Was it the most comfortable? Was it the most ideal? Probably not,” Megan told the Standard. “But the fact that we were out and about in public, the whole taboo of it being kind of wrong made it more fun and exciting.” 

A 2018 study by Scott Cohen and Debbie Hopkins in the Annals of Tourism Research journal predicted that passengers might use robotaxis for sex.

“Hotels-by the hour are likely to be replaced by connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs),” the researchers wrote. “This will have implications for urban tourism, as sex plays a central role in many tourism experiences. Such private CAVs may also be put to commercial use, as it is just a small leap to imagine Amsterdam’s Red Light District ‘on the move.”

When a porn video of a couple having sex in a moving Tesla on Autopilot surfaced in 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk seemed unsurprised, tweeting “Turns out there’s more ways to use Autopilot than we imagined. Shoulda seen it coming…”

Insider reported at the time — when access to self-driving cars wasn’t nearly as accessible to the public as it is now — that most autonomous cars would likely have security or surveillance in place through cameras or other monitoring, though the researchers point out in the study that surveillance could be “rapidly overcome, disabled, or removed.” In other words, people can get pretty creative in figuring out ways around these systems.

Both Cruise and Waymo do have cameras and microphones inside their self-driving vehicles as well as on the outside, which the companies say are used for safety and rider support. Cruise says on its website videos from its vehicles are used for customer support, safety reasons, vehicle maintenance, security, operations, or if legally required. Both companies say on their websites that microphones are only active during rider support calls. Cruise’s community rules also specify that passengers are required to wear a seatbelt.

Waymo declined Insider’s request for comment.

“When users sign up to use the Cruise platform, they agree to follow our Community Rules which explicitly condemn any illegal activity or inappropriate behavior while using our service,” Cruise told Insider in a statement.

Since having sex in a vehicle within public view would certainly constitute “inappropriate behavior,” it’s safe to say you’re definitely not allowed to have sex in a Cruise robotaxi. But if that isn’t stopping everyone, the company may find itself tasked with enforcing that rule a bit more often than it would like.

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• San Francisco is the most recent city to approve driverless cabs. Waymo and Cruise operate in the area.
• On August 10, the city will vote on whether to allow the companies to expand their services.
• TikTokers are recording their experiences of riding in robotaxis to show viewers what it’s like.

Autonomous cars have come a long way since Google’s self-driving car project started back in 2009. 

Driverless taxis are now on the roads in Phoenix, Arizona, San Francisco, California, and Austin, Texas, but they still feel like a bizarre sci-fi concept to many.

On August 10, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will vote on whether to expand paid ride-hailing services for driverless cars in San Francisco, meaning they can operate much like typical ride-sharing apps, 24 hours a day for the general public.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of TikTokers have been documenting their experiences of using driverless taxis to get around — capturing the imagination of many viewers.

While most appear excited about the new technology, others are baffled by its futuristic nature, and skeptical about feeling safe.

This is what TikTokers have to say about their experience with the services.

Two elderly men called riding in a self-driving taxi the experience of a lifetime.

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One mega-viral TikTok video posted on March 3 received over 33.8 million views and featured two men who, according to the captions, were 81 years old and were surprised with a ride in a self-driving car after being told that they were waiting for an Uber. 

As the vehicle approached, the TikTok creator, Kenny, who goes by the username @patriotickenny, questioned whether it was a police car. Upon getting into the car and realizing there was no driver, both men appeared skeptical.

Kenny then asked the person filming, “Do you trust this?” 

As the car drove down the road, both men looked nervous and Kenny said he was scared, but when it managed to successfully navigate an intersection, he seemed impressed. 

“The car did a better job than if someone was driving,” Kenny said.

The other man said that the robotaxi was a “first-class driver.” 

“Riding in a self-driving car was an experience of a lifetime,” Kenny wrote in the video caption.

A YouTuber saw the benefits of a driverless taxi.

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Marina Mogilko, a YouTuber and co-founder of LinguaTrip, an online English learning platform, posted a TikTok video of herself ordering a driverless Waymo taxi in San Francisco on June 13.

“It looks like a normal car, except all the cameras inside and outside,” she said, gesturing toward the large spinning camera on the top of the white Jaguar. 

She told viewers that she couldn’t tell the difference in the driving quality between the self-driving car, and cars that were driven by humans. 

“Just imagine having a car like this for yourself, where you drive to work, you work in the backseat, and then it parks by itself, and maybe even works for you, driving other passengers while you are busy,” she said. 

At the end of her seven-minute trip, her bill was $7, she said, although she added that she didn’t actually have to pay the bill, because the company was still testing out the functionality of the cars.

“I can totally see how this is going to totally change the taxi business in maybe a couple of years,” she said.  

One creator said she has been taking driverless taxis since 2018, and feels more secure than in a regular cab, in some ways.

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Sophia Lovász, who goes by the TikTok username @sosobombs, has many videos documenting her self-driving taxi experiences on her TikTok account.

In a “driverless taxi vlog” posted on July 11, she showed viewers her entire journey in a driverless Waymo vehicle — which she nicknamed “Waymee” — in Tempe, Arizona, just outside Phoenix.

While the car was moving, she explained the rules: no smoking, no touching the wheel, and no sitting in the driver’s seat. 

“I personally like to use this service because I don’t have to worry about the driver being distracted, using its phone, having road rage, or having mood swings. And I don’t have to worry about the driver being like me and feeling sleepy, especially after work,” she said. 

Lovász also said that she has been using this service since 2018, and that she has “experienced the evolution of how much better it is at driving.”

Not everyone seemed to think their ride went flawlessly.

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In a TikTok video posted on June 17, user @rogerlbcn said that his Waymo driverless taxi got stuck in the middle of an intersection in San Francisco. 

The video showed that the car was stationary in the middle of an intersection, while other cars drove past it. 

After some time, the car moved forward slightly, and then stopped again. A notification popped up on the screen in the front of the car, which stated: “Our team is working to get you moving.”

After some time had passed, the car resumed driving. 

There have been previous reports of driverless cars blocking traffic over the years. In one instance, a light-rail train almost hit an autonomous car that stopped on its tracks.

Waymo did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

The response to the TikToks is mixed. lupengyu / Getty Images

Many of these TikToks have blown up, receiving many comments from viewers.

Some have welcomed the concept of being in a car with no driver, writing in comments sections that they thought they would feel safer in some ways to not have to be driven by a stranger.

But many viewers still seem skeptical about whether they’d trust a car that has no driver, expressing concern about the technology failing.

A 2022 survey found that three out of every four Americans feel less safe in a self-driving car, although people who work in the industry argue there’s potential for them to be safer than human drivers because the technology has a broader perception of data and doesn’t get tired.

Driverless taxis also introduce some ethical implications. Replacing humans with artificial intelligence has ethical implications. kodda / Getty Images

Some viewers have expressed concerns that many drivers will end up unemployed if this technology continues to develop, which could leave them without a source of income.

In July, Uber, Lyft, and taxi drivers united to protest against against the proposed Waymo and Cruise expansion, according to Mission Local, an  independent online news site covering the Mission District of San Francisco.

Soon, Cruise and Waymo could be allowed to operate 24/7 in San Francisco and charge for fully autonomous rides. Westend61 / Getty Images

Right now, Waymo and Cruise offer limited service in San Francisco. 

Cruise employees and “power users” — a group of public riders who provide regular feedback to Cruise — can get rides in almost all parts of the city at any time of the day.

However, the general public can only access the service between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. the Northwest part of San Francisco, CNBC reported. 

Meanwhile, Waymo can currently only charge for its rides throughout San Francisco if a safety driver present. It can only offer fully autonomous services if the ride is free.

Cruise is waiting for permission to deploy its driverless vehicles 24/7 in the city, while Waymo is waiting for approval to begin charging for rides.

If the August 10 vote goes through, it will essentially allow the companies to operate in a similar way to Uber and Lyft. 

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When in San Francisco, you don’t necessarily have to hail one of Cruise’s robo-taxis. Company CEO Kyle Vogt has announced that Cruise is now licensed to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout San Francisco. Only employees have access to the entire region during this time. However, for the first time, Cruise is also opening day trips for public “power users”. While you initially only have access to a limited part of the city (primarily Pacific Heights, Richmond, and Sunset), it’s now a matter of where you are, not when you go.

Employees have been driving during the day for months. San Francisco officials have resisted expanding access to robotic taxis from Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo, fearing the companies are moving too fast. There have been incidents of driverless cars blocking traffic, including emergency vehicles. The city’s transportation authority has instead pushed for limited rollouts with incremental expansions.

Alright folks, we did it. I’ve been waiting for this day for almost 10 years.

I’m proud to announce that @Cruise is now running 24/7 across San Francisco!

This is a pivotal moment for our business.

Let me tell you why (1/6) pic.twitter.com/UqCMgozrWX

— Kyle Vogt (@kvogt) April 25, 2023

There’s no timeline for wider deployments elsewhere, but Vogt promises operations will ramp up in other cities “soon.” The successful deployment in San Francisco is a “litmus test” for robotic taxis in other cities, the executive claims. The city’s challenging terrain, unusual roads and wet weather are daunting for sensors for self-driving cars.

The broader access could help GM’s own brand gain an edge over Waymo. Cruise was the first company to start charging for self-driving trips in San Francisco. Now it can provide non-stop service for some passengers. Waymo still has an advantage in areas like Phoenix, where it’s requiring public rides for a while, but it clearly has a tougher fight ahead.

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