Autonomous vehicles continued operating during San Francisco blackout while court restores Musk’s $56 billion pay package
Tesla shares climbed 1.1% in premarket trading Monday after the electric vehicle maker notched two significant victories over the weekend. The company’s autonomous vehicles continued operating normally during a major San Francisco power outage that left a competitor’s fleet stranded, while a Delaware court simultaneously restored CEO Elon Musk’s controversial $56 billion compensation package.
Power outage creates unexpected test
A Sunday power outage in San Francisco knocked out electricity for approximately 130,000 homes and businesses, creating an unplanned stress test for competing robo-taxi companies operating in the city. The blackout disabled traffic lights across affected areas, forcing autonomous vehicle systems to navigate intersections without functioning signals.
Waymo paused operations during the outage as its autonomous vehicles reportedly stopped in streets, unable to proceed through intersections lacking operational traffic lights. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the operational pause or the technical reasons behind it.
Tesla’s robo-taxis kept moving throughout the blackout. Musk highlighted the contrast on social media platform X, noting his company’s vehicles operated normally despite the infrastructure failure. The incident provided real-world evidence of fundamental differences in how the two companies approach autonomous driving technology.
Technology philosophies diverge
The blackout exposed contrasting strategies between the two autonomous vehicle leaders. Waymo built its system specifically for robo-taxi operations, relying on detailed street mapping and expensive sensor arrays including lidar technology. This approach creates highly accurate models of urban environments but appears to depend on functioning city infrastructure.
Tesla developed its autonomous features for consumer vehicles that owners can purchase and use themselves. The company’s Full Self-Driving system uses optical cameras and computer vision to interpret surroundings in real time, allowing it to continue operating even when traffic infrastructure fails.
Tesla’s technology observes its environment rather than relying on predetermined traffic light locations stored in mapping data. Waymo vehicles appear programmed to recognize city infrastructure, potentially including logic that stops them at intersections where signals should exist, even if those signals are not currently functioning.
This architectural difference has significant implications for autonomous vehicle deployment. Systems that can operate without perfectly functioning infrastructure may prove more resilient and easier to scale across different cities and conditions.
Current operational scale differs dramatically
Despite the blackout advantage, Waymo currently operates at substantially larger scale in the autonomous ride-hailing market. The Alphabet-owned company provides driverless service in five cities and completes more than 450,000 fully autonomous rides each week without safety drivers or monitors in the vehicles.
Tesla launched robo-taxi service in Austin, Texas, in June but maintains safety monitors in passenger seats during rides. The company also tests in San Francisco with safety drivers positioned behind the wheel, indicating it has not yet achieved the same level of regulatory approval or technical confidence as Waymo for fully driverless operations.
The operational scale difference suggests that while Tesla’s technology may handle infrastructure failures better, Waymo has successfully navigated the regulatory and safety validation processes necessary to operate without human supervision. Both achievements matter for long-term success in the autonomous vehicle market.
Court delivers compensation victory
The Delaware Supreme Court handed Musk a separate victory Sunday by restoring his 2018 CEO compensation plan valued at $56 billion. The ruling reversed a lower court decision that had ordered the package rescinded following a shareholder lawsuit.
Judges determined that the remedy of canceling the compensation package exceeded appropriate bounds. The Supreme Court reversed the cancellation and awarded just $1 in nominal damages, effectively reinstating the original 2018 compensation plan that ties Musk’s pay to aggressive performance targets.
Shareholder Richard Tornetta filed the lawsuit claiming Musk and Tesla’s board violated fiduciary duties in approving the package. While the Supreme Court restored the compensation, it left intact other Court of Chancery findings about Musk’s influence over Tesla and flaws in the board approval process.
Tesla relocated its corporate incorporation from Delaware following the initial adverse ruling. The company subsequently held a second shareholder vote to reaffirm Musk’s compensation, with shareholders approving an even larger pay package in November 2025. The new compensation ties to aggressive performance targets spanning ten years.
Market reaction and stock performance
Tesla stock reached $486.50 in premarket trading Monday, representing the 1.1% gain. Shares have climbed 19% year-to-date heading into Monday’s session, reflecting investor confidence despite various challenges and controversies surrounding the company and its CEO.
Alphabet stock, Waymo’s parent company, traded up 0.7% in premarket Monday at $309.32. The more modest gain suggests investors viewed the blackout incident as a minor setback rather than a fundamental problem for Waymo’s technology or business model.
The parallel developments underscore how Tesla’s fortunes depend on both technological advancement and Musk’s continued leadership. The compensation ruling removes uncertainty about whether the CEO might reduce his involvement with the company if his pay package remained canceled.
Looking ahead at autonomous competition
The blackout incident provides one data point in the ongoing competition between autonomous vehicle approaches, but the race remains far from decided. Waymo’s larger operational scale and fully driverless service represent significant achievements that Tesla has not yet matched.
However, Tesla’s ability to operate during infrastructure failures demonstrates resilience that could prove valuable as autonomous vehicles expand to more cities with varying reliability of traffic systems. Natural disasters, equipment failures and cyberattacks can all disrupt city infrastructure, making system robustness an important consideration.
The autonomous vehicle market continues expanding rapidly, with multiple companies pursuing different technological paths and business models. Some focus on robotaxi services like Waymo, while others like Tesla aim to sell autonomous capability directly to consumers who own vehicles.
Regulatory frameworks will likely influence which approaches succeed in different markets. Cities and states may impose varying requirements for safety validation, insurance and operational oversight that favor certain business models over others.
Implications for investors
For Tesla shareholders, Monday’s gains reflect positive momentum from both the operational demonstration and legal victory. The stock’s 19% year-to-date increase suggests investors remain confident in the company’s long-term prospects despite competition and regulatory challenges.
The blackout incident may not significantly alter the competitive landscape immediately but adds to the narrative that Tesla’s approach offers certain advantages. Investors weighing autonomous vehicle opportunities should consider both the current operational scale advantage Waymo enjoys and the technological resilience Tesla demonstrated.
The restored compensation package removes one source of uncertainty about Musk’s future with the company. However, the size and structure of the pay arrangement will likely continue generating controversy among shareholders and observers who question whether any executive deserves such enormous compensation regardless of performance achievements.