alt.hn

2/6/2026 at 8:57:44 PM

Waymo exec admits remote operators in Philippines help guide US robotaxis

 https://eletric-vehicles.com/waymo/waymo-exec-admits-remote-operators-in-philippines-help-guide-us-robotaxis/

by anigbrowl

2/7/2026 at 3:47:46 AM

I was once in a waymo stopped at a red light. Prior to the light turning green I felt a split second where the car's brake had been released, anticipating the change and then accelerating immediately when the light changed.

Since this experience I've just assumed all waymos have some warehoused human drone pilot actually controlling it.

by tengbretson

2/7/2026 at 7:50:27 AM

There are many other possibilities such as the system having learned the timings or another vehicle in the fleet observing the lights turn red at the other part of the junction.

The least likely possibility is a person controlling the vehicle directly over a variable latency connection that may fail completely at any time.

by thebruce87m

2/7/2026 at 4:54:47 AM

Waymo remote operators cannot drive the car

by akanet

2/6/2026 at 11:03:22 PM

Having physical brains in the loop seems like a good thing.

by ravenstine

2/7/2026 at 2:53:29 AM

I think some are wondering if these overseas employees are driving cars in the US without a US driver's license.

by jjeaff

2/6/2026 at 10:24:04 PM

> “They provide guidance. They do not remotely drive the vehicles,” Peña told the Senate committee. “The Waymo vehicle is always in charge of the dynamic driving tasks, so that is just one additional input.”

by bryan_w

2/6/2026 at 11:39:03 PM

I think everyone knew this and is comforted by it. I’d be concerned if there weren’t humans ready to guide or take over. The company we should all be concerned about is Tesla, and their irresponsible way of falsely advertising full self driving capabilities. Who knows what those robotaxis are capable of.

by SilverElfin

2/6/2026 at 9:26:55 PM

Ok, and?

by OsrsNeedsf2P

2/7/2026 at 2:58:44 AM

Then they’re not really self driving are they?

by MBCook

2/7/2026 at 3:27:09 AM

The assistants don't have access to the gas pedal or steering wheel input. The car is the only thing actually piloting the car i.e. self driving

* Unless it gets super stuck, then a human drives out and gets into the physical driver seat and takes over

by bryan_w

2/7/2026 at 4:56:58 AM

My assumption is they can provide input such as "you should make a left/right lane change" to get out of a "stuck" location.

So when the car's systems prevent it from taking a specific action, they can override it for a single instance.

by lysp

2/7/2026 at 2:53:56 AM

Do they have driver's licenses from a US state?

by jjeaff

2/7/2026 at 6:32:07 AM

Waymo has a blog post on what these remote assistance people do: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response/

They effectively are answering questions like "is this road closed", or "is the object in front of me a solid object or a weird shadow".

These are not the sort of questions that US driver's license is really related to, it's not things like "can I legally turn right on red at this intersection".

Do we require a driver's license to solve Google reCapture questions like "what squares have a bike in them"? Because the waymo stuff is closer to image classification than driving.

by TheDong

2/7/2026 at 5:14:14 AM

Is Waymo software licensed by a dmv ?

by whatever1

2/7/2026 at 6:10:01 AM

Yes. Something you should intuit, and is eaisly confirmed with a quick search. It is licensed to drive and the conditions underwhich it may do so are clearly stipulated. If it didnt require a license elon would have his deathtraps littering roadsides with mangled flesh and steel everywhere. Perhaps ask yourself why you asked such a misguided question and consider what you can do different in your cognitive patternd to avoid it in the future.

by Grimblewald

2/7/2026 at 3:08:02 AM

[flagged]

by Grimblewald

2/7/2026 at 6:45:50 AM

You've imagined a scenario around remote drivers having access to the internal microphones.

Waymo tells you explicitly that all the microphones inside the car are off unless you press the button to call rider support yourself.

If you'd ever ridden in waymo, perhaps you'd recall them telling you that the first time you rode one.

> if you can't think of more perhaps you should keep your comments out of the discussion, because at present you've contributed nothing but ignorance.

You really shouldn't end your comment with that if you're not going to read up on whether a hypothetical scenario you've imagined up is ignorant or not.

by TheDong