Waymo’s ‘Self-Driving’ Claims Get a Reality Check on Capitol Hill

Waymo’s claim that its vehicles operate without human drivers drew sharp criticism Wednesday after a senior executive acknowledged that foreign operators help guide the company’s autonomous cars through difficult situations on American streets, raising new questions about what “self-driving” really means.

To give evidence Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña confirmed that the company is relying on remote human operators to assist vehicles when they encounter scenarios they cannot resolve on their own.

“They provide guidance, they don’t operate the vehicles remotely,” Peña told lawmakers. “Waymo asks for guidance and receives input in certain situations, but the Waymo vehicle is always in charge of the dynamic driving task.”

The answer was not satisfactory to Senator Edward Markey (D., Mass.), who asked whether all third-party operators were based in the US. Peña said this was not the case, later identifying the overseas location as the Philippines.

Markey warned that human involvement overseas undermines public claims to full autonomy while posing security and cybersecurity risks.

“It’s a safety issue that people abroad are affecting American vehicles,” Markey said. “The information the operators receive may be out of date. It can create enormous cybersecurity vulnerabilities.”

Lawmakers also questioned whether third-party operators abroad are subject to U.S. licensing or regulatory standards, and criticized Waymo for outsourcing what it described as one of the few remaining human jobs in an increasingly automated system.

National framework

The Senate hearing comes as Congress considers whether to include a national framework for autonomous vehicles in the next surface transportation reauthorization bill, and as Waymo faces additional criticism following its efforts to scale its business into new markets.

On Monday, the robot taxi company made one $16 billion financing round, bringing the company’s valuation to $126 billion.

In an interview with DeclutterA Waymo spokesperson clarified that the company does not consider its third-party operators as drivers and rejected the idea of ​​humans driving vehicles in real time.

“Their role is not to control the vehicle remotely. They are not remote drivers,” the spokesperson said. “They generally answer multiple-choice questions that the vehicle asks them.”

“All the driving actually happens on board that vehicle. It’s not done remotely,” she added.

The spokesperson said both U.S.-based and foreign fleet response agents are certified drivers and receive training on local traffic regulations in the regions they serve.

“All fleet response agents, both those in the U.S. and those abroad, have a vehicle or van driver’s license,” the spokesperson said. “They learn about local traffic rules and will provide remote assistance.”

Waymo characterized the human input as contextual rather than directive.

“Man offers a suggestion in a challenging scenario, and the Waymo driver will take that suggestion into account when making its next decision,” the spokesperson said.

Some security researchers say remote human involvement could still play a decisive role if something goes wrong.

Philip Koopman, a professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University who studies the safety of autonomous vehicles, pointed to previous crashes in which remote assistance contributed to errors.

“Although Waymo says these remotes do not actually steer or brake, their assistance can contribute substantially to a crash, and in my view that makes them a backup driver,” Koopman said. Declutter.

William Riggs, a professor at the University of San Francisco who studies the policy and deployment of autonomous vehicles, said the use of remote human support is consistent with the way autonomous systems are designed and regulated today.

“It is also important to distinguish between ‘remote human assistance’ and ‘remote driving’ as these terms are often confused,” Riggs said. Declutter. “Remote driving involves directly controlling a vehicle from a distance, while remote supervision – used by companies developing true Level 4 autonomy – allows vehicles to make autonomous decisions on board, with remote supervisors acting as a support layer rather than direct operators.”

“The vehicles continue to operate within the agreed and permitted Operational Design Domains (ODDs),” he added. “These ODDs are carefully defined in collaboration with government regulators and adhere to evolving legal frameworks around driving regulations.”

The hearing comes as US states continue with their issues regulations which regulates autonomous vehicles and while Congress considers whether to pass a federal law overseeing the technology. Waymo and other companies, including Tesla, which also testified at the hearing, are facing heightened scrutiny over their self-driving capabilities.