Wikipedia has

>A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues...

I think using the term for a software update is abusing the language a bit. And may confuse people who have a real recall where the thing has to go to the dealer.

Also I think it's wrong to call something a recall if it's not owned by customers. Waymo is a service.

The difference between that and usual software updates I'm guessing is the cars are pulled from service until the update takes place.

Recall makes for better headlines.

We've updated the title above. Thanks!

Gah, thanks for this. Thought I was used to that slight-of-hand but this one got me

Legally and technically true, and I hate it.

We really need a better term for when an urgent software update for a vehicle is issued. The extreme majority of the population completely misunderstands it when a "recall" is done when it's actually just an OTA software update.

aw, I was having fun imagining 3,800 Johnny cabs just immediately changing route to go to headquarters.