WASHINGTON – Google’s autonomous vehicle division Waymo has responded to congressional inquiries regarding the role of remote workers in their self-driving taxi operations, clarifying Tuesday that these personnel have never actually controlled vehicles during regular street operations.
In correspondence with Senator Ed Markey, the company explained that remote driving capabilities or “tele-operations” are not employed for actual driving functions. The letter detailed that while some domestic staff members could theoretically guide a stationary autonomous vehicle to creep forward at 2 mph for brief distances to clear traffic lanes during unusual situations, this capability has only been utilized during training scenarios, not in real-world service.
