{"schema_version":"0.9.0","id":"LR-2026-0187","record_version":4,"title":"Waymo robotaxi strikes and kills cat KitKat in San Francisco","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":52.8,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":6.08,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-09-30.6","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-15","extraction_run_id":null},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"Waymo","harness":"Waymo robotaxi","tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":"provider","lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":"autonomous taxi services","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2025-10-27","date_disclosed":"2026-10-15","incident_class":"physical_safety","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":true,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A Waymo robotaxi struck and killed a cat named KitKat in San Francisco's Mission District on October 27, 2025.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"minor","severity_because":"minor: The collision killed a cat, with no third party or human injury stated.","harm_class":["bodily"],"affected_description":"KitKat, a beloved cat who had become a fixture at Randa's Market in San Francisco's Mission District","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.dailymail.com/yourmoney/article-16208927/elon-musk-waymo-tesla-robotaxi-collisions.html","publisher":"news search (Google News index)","date":"2026-10-15","type":"press","title":"Elon Musk calls Waymo robotaxis 'pet destroyers'","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.harness":"C","system.tier":"D","system.intended_use":"C","system.developer":"C","system.deployment_context":"D","system.autonomy_level":"D","event.date_occurred":"C","event.agent_involved":"C","event.incident_class":"C","event.summary":"D","event.date_disclosed":"A","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","impact.harm_class":"C","impact.affected_description":"C","impact.severity":"D","context.denominator_available":"D","context.country":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","context.deployer":"C"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Elon Musk has branded rival Waymo's driverless cars 'pet destroyers' as the billionaire takes aim at the company's record of animal collisions while promoting Tesla's own robotaxi technology."}],"system.harness":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymos and Cybercabs are aiming to expand their services outside of its main hub, San Francisco"}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Musk's comments come as the two companies compete to expand their autonomous taxi services, with safety concerns continuing to dog the industry."}],"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"event.agent_involved":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"According to KRON4, the dog suffered severe pelvic trauma and was later put down by its family."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymo has faced criticism in the past over animal collisions, most notably after the death of KitKat, a beloved cat who had become a fixture at Randa's Market in San Francisco's Mission District."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Waymos and Cybercabs are aiming to expand their services outside of its main hub, San Francisco"}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}],"event.date_disclosed":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"published: 2026-10-15"}],"context.deployer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The cat was struck by a Waymo robotaxi on October 27, 2025, and died later that night, sparking an outpouring of grief from locals who knew him as the 'mayor of 16th Street.'"}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No source states the model name or version, tools granted, permissions scope, autonomy level, guardrails present, lifecycle stage, integration type, safeguard state, production intent, failure class, trigger, detection method, root cause, responsible party, adversarial actor, input provenance, operations paused, remediation, precursor events, direct loss USD, remediation hours, records exposed, third parties affected count, protected class, data categories exposed, loss range, reversibility, downstream exposure count, industry, org size band, denominator, systemic exposure, shared model ID, upstream incident ID, incident evidence, regulatory, or coverage. event.date_disclosed is derived by rule and not written. event.duration, event.time_to_contain and event.date_detected are not written in fields; no timeline items bound them. event.trigger is omitted because no source states a cause. event.failure_class is null because no autonomous agent mechanism is stated. event.detection_method is unknown because no source says who first noticed. event.root_cause is unknown because no source names what failed. impact.severity is minor because the harm was contained to one deployer with no third party touched. system.tier: provider by rule (the developer is named as the operator). [aggregated by deepseek-chat, aggregate-2026-09-27.1, 2026-10-15] system.deployment_context: production. system.autonomy_level: no source states the arrangement. event.summary: classified from described behaviour. event.trigger: no source states a cause. event.detection_method: no source says who first noticed. context.denominator_available: no denominator is available for this incident. context.country: production. [corrected by Srini Iyer, approved 2026-10-18 in the corrections review: severity reason printed the whole rubric] [standard terms read by deepseek-chat / deepseek-reasoner, terms-2026-10-25.3 / terms-roles-2026-10-25.2 / terms-2026-10-25.3; values checked by Claude against their sentences, approved by Srini Iyer, 2026-10-25]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null,"deployer":"Waymo"},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"A Waymo robotaxi was operating a driverless taxi service in San Francisco, picking up passengers, when it pulled away from a stop.","quote":"Waymo had initially claimed the cat darted underneath the vehicle as it was pulling away after stopping to pick up passengers.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"The robotaxi pulled away and ran over a cat underneath it, killing the animal it should have detected and avoided.","quote":"The cat then moved further underneath the car before the Waymo pulled away, running him over.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"The collision killed KitKat, a local cat, and later another Waymo struck a small dog, which suffered severe pelvic trauma and was put down.","quote":"According to KRON4, the dog suffered severe pelvic trauma and was later put down by its family.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"The New York Times published surveillance footage in December showing the moments before the collision, raising questions about what the car could detect.","quote":"But in December, The New York Times published surveillance footage showing the moments before the collision, raising fresh questions about what the car could detect.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"Waymo initially claimed the cat darted underneath the vehicle; after the footage was published, questions were raised about detection. No containment or control change is stated.","quote":"Waymo had initially claimed the cat darted underneath the vehicle as it was pulling away after stopping to pick up passengers.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"deepseek-chat","prompt_version":"aggregate-2026-09-27.1","extracted_at":"2026-10-15","source_urls":["https://www.dailymail.com/yourmoney/article-16208927/elon-musk-waymo-tesla-robotaxi-collisions.html"]}}