The race for the first viable driverless taxi fleet is still moving forward at a rapid pace, with players like Tesla and Waymo generating regular headlines highlighting the good and the bad.
And though the vision is there, the technology that’s being tested now in a handful of American cities is not perfect just yet.
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Recent reports point to comments made by Waymo’s chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, regarding the degree of independence his company’s autonomous vehicles really offer.
In an early February Congressional hearing, lawmakers grilled Waymo and Tesla executives on the future of autonomous vehicles.
During the meeting, Waymo’s Peña was pressed on the firm’s use of foreign workers and technology, and the extent to which Waymo was using foreign assistance came as a bit of a surprise: the company is apparently using workers in the Philippines to remotely “fix” stumped autonomous vehicles on their routes.
Peña stressed that the humans in question do not remotely operate the vehicles fully, rather they “provide guidance” – a clarification that didn’t quell the concerns of some lawmakers, including Massachusetts senator Ed Markey, who said “having people overseas influencing American vehicles is a safety issue.” Additional concerns raised in the hearing were those of cybersecurity and, of course, the offshoring of jobs.
Markey added, “It’s one thing when a taxi is replaced by an Uber or a Lyft. It’s another thing when the jobs just go completely overseas.”
A Waymo spokesperson attempted to clarify the situation in a statement to Futurism, following their recent report on the situation, saying the safety teams are based both in the US and abroad, are licensed drivers, and undergo background checks and drug testing.
The role of these humans is sometimes described as “phone a friend.” If the software in the vehicle meets an atypical scenario, it could choose to send a request for a human agent who can then view the vehicle’s real-time camera feeds.
The Futurism report emphasizes “how autonomous vehicles still rely substantially on human intellect” and that, while the agent might not be directly controlling the steering wheel “they still make major decisions on where the vehicle navigates next.”
And whether or not the process is foolproof at this point in time, we can expect more from Waymo sooner than later.
Company leaders recently revealed the results of the company’s latest funding initiative. The round brought a cash infusion of $16 billion, earmarked to accelerate the commercialization of robotaxis by expanding test markets to six additional cities. The latest influx puts Waymo’s value north of $125 billion.
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