Young Man Requests 50 'Uber Without Drivers' App Cars at Once, Causing Chaos on Street in the U.S.

Young Man Requests 50 ‘Uber Without Drivers’ App Cars at Once, Causing Chaos on Street in the U.S.

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 15/10/2025 at 15:08

Updated on 15/10/2025 at 22:32

Imagem: Reprodução

152 pessoas reagiram a isso.

During the Summer in San Francisco, a Group of Young People Led by Engineer Riley Walz Caused a Congestion of Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars in a Prank That Simulated a “Denial of Service” Cyberattack

During the American summer, 23-year-old software engineer Riley Walz decided to turn his vacation into an unusual experience. Alongside some friends, he crafted a prank he called “Waymo DDoS,” inspired by the term used to describe denial of service cyberattacks.

The plan, according to Walz, was simple: gather 50 people on a dead-end street in San Francisco and have them all request rides from Waymo, a company that operates self-driving cars similar to Uber.

Unusual Congestion of Driverless Cars

The result was a momentary chaos. None of the participants entered the vehicles, and after about ten minutes, the cars left on their own, charging each requester a no-show fee of US$ 5.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

What Does DDoS Mean

The term DDoS, short for “Distributed Denial of Service,” describes attacks that overload servers to the point of taking them offline.

Walz compared his prank to this type of attack, as the simultaneous requests briefly congested Waymo’s network.

Reactions and Limits of Technology Pranks

The feat quickly went viral on the internet, generating divergent opinions. While some laughed at the creativity, others warned of possible risks to safety and urban mobility.

Walz, co-founder of the data company Numerous.ai, stated that his pranks are curious, not malicious — although they walk the line between satire and testing technological systems.

With information from AutoPapo.

A Symbol of Freedom in the Midst of Counterculture

The initiative emerged during a turbulent moment in history. The world was still feeling the effects of World War II, while the 1960s brought winds of change.

Youths protested, women fought for rights, and counterculture spread.

In this context, the small island became a symbol of freedom. Young people began to visit it frequently, drawn by the idea of living without rules.

The location turned into a sort of alternative refuge, with a bar, restaurant, souvenir shop, and even a small post office.

Letters and citizenship requests arrived from various parts of the world. For many, Giorgio was a visionary who had created a free paradise. For the Italian government, however, he was a threat.

Storms, Resistance, and the Beginning of the End of the Island

On the first night he slept on the island, Giorgio faced a violent storm. The wind nearly threw him into the sea.

Any other person would have given up, but he did not. Believing so much in his project, he drilled the seabed with a probe to capture fresh water — and succeeded.

The courage was impressive but also irritated the authorities. The increasing movement of visitors and the independence rhetoric began to disturb the Italian government, which started to monitor the platform.

Despite this, Giorgio remained steadfast. The original project envisioned five floors, but only half of the first was completed. Still, the island lasted for 55 days after its inauguration.

The Explosion That Ended a Dream

In 1969, the Italian government decided to end the experiment. The Navy took control of the structure and began its destruction.

Contrary to what the movie inspired by the story shows, the Island of Roses was not exploded all at once.

Two rounds of explosives were needed, applied on different days, to cause significant damage to the structure.

Even so, the platform partially resisted — a testament to the engineer’s skill. The final collapse came with another storm, which sank what remained of the construction.

For months, parts of the island could still be seen on the surface of the Adriatic.

The final blow was cruel: in addition to losing the island, Giorgio Rosa had to pay for the military operation that destroyed it.

He gradually settled the debt with his salary as a teacher, a profession he began to pursue after the incident.

Island of Roses: From Destruction to Renewal on Screens

Decades later, Rosa’s story inspired the movie “The Incredible Story of the Island of Roses”, released by Netflix.

Director Sydney Sibilia reconstructed the platform to life size — about 400 square meters — in a massive pool of reservoir water on the island of Malta.

The filming encountered difficulties similar to those faced by the engineer himself, reinforcing how ambitious his project had been.

Even with the tragic end, the Island of Roses continued to spark curiosity. Forty years later, divers found remnants of the platform on the seabed and brought fragments to the surface.

One of them, a simple brick, was presented to Giorgio with a symbolic dedication: “A little piece of a dream for a great dreamer.”

Giorgio Rosa passed away in 2017 at the age of 92. He died without his island, but with the recognition of having turned an improbable dream into one of the most extraordinary episodes of engineering and human freedom.

With information from Portal Litoral Sul.

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Young Man Requests 50 ‘Uber Without Drivers’ App Cars at Once, Causing Chaos on Street in the U.S.

During the Summer in San Francisco, a Group of Young People Led by Engineer Riley Walz Caused a Congestion of Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars in a Prank That Simulated a “Denial of Service” Cyberattack

Unusual Congestion of Driverless Cars

What Does DDoS Mean

Reactions and Limits of Technology Pranks

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Island of Roses: From Destruction to Renewal on Screens

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Young Man Requests 50 ‘Uber Without Drivers’ App Cars at Once, Causing Chaos on Street in the U.S.

During the Summer in San Francisco, a Group of Young People Led by Engineer Riley Walz Caused a Congestion of Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars in a Prank That Simulated a “Denial of Service” Cyberattack

Unusual Congestion of Driverless Cars

What Does DDoS Mean

Reactions and Limits of Technology Pranks

You May Also Like: Man Erects “Island” and Declares Himself President — But Sees Creation Destroyed by Government; Story Even Became a Movie on Netflix

A Symbol of Freedom in the Midst of Counterculture

Storms, Resistance, and the Beginning of the End of the Island

The Explosion That Ended a Dream

Island of Roses: From Destruction to Renewal on Screens

Scientists enter a narrow, flooded cave 500 meters deep and find giant dinosaur footprints on the ceiling measuring up to 1.25 meters, preserved in such a rare way that a new type of trace had to be created.

In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

A giant half-ton ring fell in Kenya from space, and more than a year later, scientists still do not know where it came from.

After two years of internal discussions, Paraguay has finally regulated the law that opens the country to foreign technology and service companies with tax incentives that promise to create thousands of jobs and change the economy.

Map reveals how the Earth may look in 250 million years: continents will reunite in the Last Pangaea, 92% of the planet could become uninhabitable for mammals, and Spain appears among the rare possible exceptions.

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