The original article can be found here.
By Mike Johns
In 2025, Waymo’s robotaxis seized the public spotlight nationwide—not for utopian transit, but for chaos: my ride going around in circles kicked the year off, cat killed, dog hit, near-misses with school buses, near run in with LAPD, baffling illegal U-turns, female trapped in vehicle and the viral spectacle of woman finds a man in Waymo trunk. Public trust didn’t just erode; it became a national punchline.
Now, with savage, surgical timing, Rockstar Games drops the “KnoWay Out” mission strand in the latest GTA Online update. Players are tasked with systematically sabotaging a parody autonomous taxi empire, effectively turning Waymo’s real-world nightmares into interactive, high-score mischief.
As the futurist behind WAY MO-PROBLEMS and the author of “Death of a Job,” I’ve been the canary in the coal mine, warning against the self-driving hype. This game’s brutal, on-the-nose satire isn’t just entertainment; it feels like my entire critical newsletter has just become an explosive, player-driven reality.
2025 Waymo Wrecks
Waymo’s year was a comedy of errors: over 3,000 vehicles recalled after blowing past stopped school buses with kids unloading, even post-software “fixes” that flopped. Social media lit up with clips of zigzag tunnel drives, pedestrian standoffs, and a dude trapped in an open trunk like a bad horror flick. Public perception tanked—polls show 56% of Americans swearing off robotaxis, with Reddit threads roasting Waymo as “NYC cabbie on bath salts”. I’ve ridden these glitch-machines myself; one’s “close call” had me yelling “Waymo-Hell No!.”
KnoWay Out: Mission Mayhem Breakdown
The “Kno Way Out” mission strand in GTA Online is a highly relevant satirical take on the real-world autonomous vehicle company, Waymo, and I fully expect its content to shape public perception in the coming years. The game portrays the fictional self-driving vehicle company, KnoWay, as a front for a “shadowy surveillance network” operated by the FIB (the in-game FBI), forcing players to actively engage in sabotage by hijacking their taxis, causing chaos, and tanking their stock price. This narrative reinforces existing public skepticism about autonomous vehicles, which already faces concerns about safety, data privacy, and aggressive driving, as Waymo struggles to convince a majority of the public that the technology is safe. As Grand Theft Auto has an immense cultural footprint and the virtual experience often mirrors and comments on real-world issues, this highly visible, mass-market depiction of Waymo’s parody as a vehicle for mass surveillance will likely amplify negative perceptions. I anticipate that the game’s blend of satire and action will solidify the image of autonomous taxis in the public consciousness as potential “snitch-mobiles”, making it harder for companies like Waymo to build trust, especially as the technology expands into new cities and faces more scrutiny.
You can see a full playthrough of the missions here: GTA Online New Avi Swchwartmzan Full KnoWay Story DLC All Cutscenes And Missions. This video contains all the cutscenes and missions from the new Avi Schwartzman KnoWay DLC Storyline, giving the full context of the game’s satirical take on the self-driving car company.
Perception Armageddon
Rockstar didn’t name it “No Way” (though “Hell No” fits Waymo’s bus-blitzing vibes), but “KnoWay Out” screams it—players literally explode the fleet, mirroring real 2025 recalls of over 3,000 vehicles for software flaws causing them to pass stopped school buses. Social media’s already memeing: expect TikToks of gamers yelling “Waymo problems!” mid-billboard jump, amplifying distrust among my audience of reskilled workers fearing job-killing AVs, especially with Waymo’s 100M+ miles still plagued by “unexpected behaviors” like the near-crash in that viral San Francisco YouTube Short of a passenger’s first ride. This game’s viral spread—YouTube speedruns racking millions of views—could flip casual players into full skeptics, timed perfectly with Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana’s resurfaced “Perception Armageddon” quote planning for fatalities as inevitable (“we say ‘when,’ not ‘whether'”). Personally, as someone teaching AI literacy via BeSkilled America, I love the roast—finally, pop culture calls BS on the “safer than humans” myth before more kids play frogger with robotaxis. Download it, blow it up, and join the no-way revolution. Or you can continue to be apart of the human experience.
About Mike Johns
Mike Johns is a cultural futurist, author of Death of a Job: The Future of Work in the Age of AI, and founder of BeSkilled America, an AI literacy platform focused on reskilling the global workforce for the automation era. Blending hip-hop culture with sci-fi technology, he’s earned the label “Nerd with street credibility,” exploring topics like tech impact on relationship, family, the church, sports, transhumanism, and robots. Always thinking out the box, Johns is at the forefront of the humanization of technology into everyday life. As a founding member of the Consumer AI Protection Advocates, Johns champions transparency and digital rights to ensure technology serves humanity. His viral short film Oblivious and experimental project “AI Speed Dating” highlights his creative engagement with AI’s impact on culture. Frequently featured on major networks globally such as CNN, CNBC, BBC, and Telemundo, and a keynote speaker at events including CES 2025 and TEDx Miami, Johns advises corporations and governments while advocating for equitable tech adoption and the democratization of intelligence to upgrade the human operating system. Learn more, connect at https://mikejohns.ceo
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