One photo showed protesters waving Mexican and Guatemalan flags from atop a company car, while another appeared to show a demonstrator hitting a vehicle with a skateboard.
Today, the company said it suspended some service “out of an abundance of caution”.
It’s unclear why the vehicles were vandalised.
The company said in a statement that it has “no reason to believe” it was specifically targeted.
When asked how the vehicles ended up in the midst of the protests, a Waymo spokesperson said some had been completing drop-offs nearby.
On TikTok, Instagram, and X, right-leaning accounts boosted footage of the burning cars.
“This is the image of the modern Democrat Party. Chaos over order. Criminals over law abiding citizens. Foreigners over Americans,” wrote right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk on X alongside a photo of protesters standing atop a charred vehicle.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department warned members of the public to stay away from downtown to avoid toxic fumes.
“Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby,” the agency wrote in a social media post.
Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, began a driverless taxi service in Los Angeles in November after several months of testing.
Though it’s not the only company working on self-driving car technology ― Tesla is preparing to launch a robotaxi effort of its own ― Waymo is the only brand offering rides to everyday people at a large scale on city streets.
Its white Jaguar I-Pace electric SUVs, outfitted with exterior sensors and piloted using the company’s software, have been common in San Francisco for years.
Autonomous vehicle developers say their systems will be far safer than human drivers and have won support from some safety advocates.
But, as the Washington Post has reported, they also sometimes fail to stop for pedestrians and park illegally.
And a YouGov poll late last year found that the public remains somewhat sceptical about their safety.
While Tesla has become a focus of protest vandalism in recent months, Waymo vehicles have occasionally become targets as well.
In San Francisco, anti-car activists have taken to blinding the robotaxis’ sensors by placing traffic cones over them.
A Waymo taxi was reportedly vandalised last year in the city’s Chinatown by people celebrating the Lunar New Year.
Missy Cummings, an engineering professor at George Mason University who directs the university’s Autonomy and Robotics Centre, said it’s to be expected that some people will take advantage of situations where no driver is present.
“These incidents are yet more examples of people getting sick and tired of the fear-mongering that is happening with AI,” Cummings said in an email.
