Waymo’s autonomous taxis turn to human operators in the Philippines to guide them remotely

Mauricio Peña, director of security at Waymo (a subsidiary of Alphabet), confirmed before questions from the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee this Wednesday that it uses human operators to provide assistance to its robotaxis when they face complicated driving situations, and that some serve from the Asian country.

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The director was questioned by Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who this week asked seven major autonomous vehicle companies — Waymo, Tesla, Zoox, Aurora, Motional, May Mobility and Nuro — for answers about the security of their remote assistance operator systems.

The senator has warned that, unbeknownst to many Americans, autonomous vehicle companies rely on remote human operators to monitor autonomous vehicles and help driving systems perform complex tasks.

“Unfortunately, the companies have provided little information about the location of these remote operators, the frequency with which they intervene in the autonomous vehicle or their qualifications”the Democrat warned in his request to the companies.

In that sense, Peña defended that the vehicles maintain control of all driving tasks at all times and that the operators only provide guidance.

When Markey asked him how many operators are outside the United States, Peña responded that he did not have that information, which increased the frustration of senators, including Republican Ted Cruz, chairman of the committee.

After being questioned about which countries the overseas operators are located in, Waymo’s security chief responded that they are in the Philippines.

This revelation provoked immediate rejection from legislators. “That is completely unacceptable.”Markey said.

The senator argued that having people abroad influencing autonomous vehicles being driven in the US could create “huge” cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

He also criticized the qualification of foreign operators: “We don’t know if these people have American driving licenses”reproached the democrat.

The legislator also stressed that with its robotaxis, Waymo is trying to replace American taxi drivers and platform drivers, and that the few jobs for people are now being sent abroad.

In his request for investigation, Markey expressed concern about remote assistance operations abroad as they may be more susceptible to being physically controlled by “hostile agents,” who could turn the vehicles into weapons that “seek to harm” U.S. citizens.

The senator has given the seven companies a deadline to provide information about the operators before February 17.

The committee is considering creating uniform safety regulations governing autonomous vehicles, which are becoming increasingly common in major cities, and to ensure safety, after several accidents involving autonomous vehicles were reported in Texas and California.