Robotaxis enter their villain era

<figure> <img alt="Waymo taxis with a purple and orange filter." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/STKS518_WAYMO_TAXI_D.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It's <em>Bullitt</em> meets <em>Christine</em> meets Waymo.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">A new short film imagines a San Francisco car chase where the other driver isn't human - and the car may be trying to kill you. That a robotaxi can now be cast as the villain with almost no explanation says something about the present moment. Autonomous cars have gone from sci-fi curiosities to fixtures in some American cities, where they've become <a href="https://www.theverge.com/transportation/983765/robotaxi-waymo-zoox-tesla-rules-pushback-nhtsa">stand-ins</a> for anxieties about AI job displacement, Big Tech surveillance, and machines making decisions once left to humans.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roadragemovie/road-rage-a-robotaxi-action-short?ref=project_link"><em>Road Rage</em></a>, the planned short film awaiting $40,000 on Kickstarter to fund production, leans into all of it. The film pits Joa, a …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/transportation/989513/road-rage-short-film-robotaxi-autonomous-ai">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>