Waymo Robotaxi Locks Down Fun Message Board HackWaymo Robotaxi Locks Down Fun Message Board Hack

The Waymo “dome” message board was accessible to anyone using the app while inside the car.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

January 29, 2025

2 Min Read
A Waymo robotaxi displayed at CES 2025.
A Waymo robotaxi displayed at CES 2025.Dan Carney

At a Glance

  • The Waymo dome message board is meant to provide information to passengers during pickup, pedestrians, and other drivers.
  • Security researcher Jane Manchun Wong was able to put her own name and X handle on the board using the Waymo app.

One-time Meta security engineer decided to have some fun with the digital message board atop Waymo robotaxis by putting her own messages on her taxi’s “dome.” In doing so, she demonstrated a weakness in the company’s security, so predictably, Waymo quickly patched the vulnerability that Wong exploited.

The possibility of putting your own message on the Waymo dome message board became public when Wong posted on X that she was able to display her own X handle. “I hacked my Waymo into showing weird texts like empty string, ‘wongmjane,’ and emojis as the Car ID, pls don’t ban me or patch it @waymo lol,” she posted.

View post on X

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Wong explained that she exploited Waymo’s app to customize the message while riding inside the car. “The good old magic of messing around with the Waymo mobile app. I guess their servers didn’t validate the input for the Car ID from non-employees,” said Wong. “So no ‘jailbreaking’ or ‘rooting’ the car itself. All I did was change the Car ID to something beyond what it’d normally accept. A pretty harmless thing I suppose.”

Wong’s original post was soon followed by another, *sad trombone*, letting the world know that the message board party was over. It is like Springfield Elementary School putting a locking cover over the school’s message board to prevent Bart from rearranging the letters to make messages of his own liking!

Related:Neighbors Hate Waymo Horn Hassles

View post on X

“We have restricted access to the dome display features since Jane's videos were published,” said Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina in an email to Design News. “While we continue exploring the dome's capabilities, we appreciate the positive feedback received from Waymo One riders about these features.”

Waymo’s website explains that the dome’s message board was added “so that it can act as a mechanism for riders to identify the vehicle day and night and know which vehicle is theirs when there may be more than one Waymo car waiting.”

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The dome also lets the car communicate its intentions with pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers. It displays shifting grey and white rectangles to communicate to pedestrians that the vehicle is yielding to them and a yellow pedestrian symbol to let drivers behind the Waymo know there’s a pedestrian crossing.

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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