Waymo admits that its autopilot is often just guys from the Philippines - programming.dev
Remote drivers intervene in unusual situations > **The takeaway: As robotaxis
and other AI-based technologies proliferate, so does the myth that these systems
are fully autonomous. During a recent Senate hearing, industry leader Waymo
provided the latest reminder that AI relies on human labor – often low-paid –
more than people realize. ** Waymo’s chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña,
recently noted that when the company’s robotaxis encounter unusual situations,
they may request real-time input from a remote response agent, receiving human
guidance when needed. While some of the contractors work in the US, many operate
from other countries, such as the Philippines. The admission is another example
of human workers, often contractors, supporting supposedly autonomous AI systems
from behind the curtain. Tesla’s robotaxis still rely on human monitors sitting
inside each vehicle. Contract labor has been at the heart of AI since OpenAI
sparked the latest wave of investment in the technology several years ago.
ChatGPT relied heavily on workers from across the world to train its underlying
large language model, often for as little as $15 an hour with no benefits.
Filipino remote workers also oversaw most of the orders taken through Presto
Automation’s supposedly autonomous fast-food drive-thru system. Meanwhile,
Amazon’s ill-fated Just Walk Out technology, which claimed to handle physical
purchases automatically without involving cash registers, actually relied upon
workers in India to monitor customers. Tesla’s robots, the primary reason why
the company is discontinuing its most popular vehicles, became arguably the most
notorious example of this phenomenon in late 2024. At the company’s “We, Robot”
event, the robots admitted that they still relied upon human intervention, and a
video of a unit falling over after mimicking the motion of its remote operator
removing their headset went viral. However, the senators grilling Peña at the
hearing were less concerned about the use of remote workers than the fact that
many were not American. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey called the employment of
foreign remote workers “completely unacceptable.” While input lag from workers
operating halfway across the world presents a safety issue, lawmakers were also
concerned about Waymo’s connections to China and other foreign countries.
Although Tesla uses its own cars, Waymo employs vehicles from various countries,
including China. The decision drew suspicions that the Alphabet-owned company is
attempting to circumvent import restrictions on Chinese vehicles. When asked
about the use of internet-connected Chinese cars on American roads, Peña
emphasized that the autonomous driving systems are installed in the US. >
Correction (Feb 10, 2026): The original version of this article described Waymo
vehicles as “switching control” to remote drivers in unusual situations. Waymo
says its remote fleet response agents do not directly operate vehicle controls,
but instead provide real-time contextual information that the autonomous system
uses while remaining in control of the vehicle. The article has been updated to
clarify this distinction.
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