7 comments

  • neuronexmachina 1 hour ago
    This was from congressional testimony this past week by executives from Waymo and Tesla, video and automated transcript here: https://www.c-span.org/program/senate-committee/tesla-and-wa...
  • svat 4 hours ago
    Waymo's article from 2024 about these operations (“much like phone-a-friend”): https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response/
  • tengbretson 3 hours ago
    I was once in a waymo stopped at a red light. Prior to the light turning green I felt a split second where the car's brake had been released, anticipating the change and then accelerating immediately when the light changed.

    Since this experience I've just assumed all waymos have some warehoused human drone pilot actually controlling it.

    • akanet 2 hours ago
      Waymo remote operators cannot drive the car
  • ravenstine 8 hours ago
    Having physical brains in the loop seems like a good thing.
    • jjeaff 4 hours ago
      I think some are wondering if these overseas employees are driving cars in the US without a US driver's license.
  • bryan_w 9 hours ago
    > “They provide guidance. They do not remotely drive the vehicles,” Peña told the Senate committee. “The Waymo vehicle is always in charge of the dynamic driving tasks, so that is just one additional input.”
  • SilverElfin 8 hours ago
    I think everyone knew this and is comforted by it. I’d be concerned if there weren’t humans ready to guide or take over. The company we should all be concerned about is Tesla, and their irresponsible way of falsely advertising full self driving capabilities. Who knows what those robotaxis are capable of.
  • OsrsNeedsf2P 10 hours ago
    Ok, and?
    • MBCook 4 hours ago
      Then they’re not really self driving are they?
      • bryan_w 4 hours ago
        The assistants don't have access to the gas pedal or steering wheel input. The car is the only thing actually piloting the car i.e. self driving

        * Unless it gets super stuck, then a human drives out and gets into the physical driver seat and takes over

      • lysp 2 hours ago
        My assumption is they can provide input such as "you should make a left/right lane change" to get out of a "stuck" location.

        So when the car's systems prevent it from taking a specific action, they can override it for a single instance.

    • jjeaff 4 hours ago
      Do they have driver's licenses from a US state?
      • TheDong 1 hour ago
        Waymo has a blog post on what these remote assistance people do: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response/

        They effectively are answering questions like "is this road closed", or "is the object in front of me a solid object or a weird shadow".

        These are not the sort of questions that US driver's license is really related to, it's not things like "can I legally turn right on red at this intersection".

        Do we require a driver's license to solve Google reCapture questions like "what squares have a bike in them"? Because the waymo stuff is closer to image classification than driving.

      • whatever1 2 hours ago
        Is Waymo software licensed by a dmv ?
        • Grimblewald 1 hour ago
          Yes. Something you should intuit, and is eaisly confirmed with a quick search. It is licensed to drive and the conditions underwhich it may do so are clearly stipulated. If it didnt require a license elon would have his deathtraps littering roadsides with mangled flesh and steel everywhere. Perhaps ask yourself why you asked such a misguided question and consider what you can do different in your cognitive patternd to avoid it in the future.
    • Grimblewald 4 hours ago
      [flagged]
      • TheDong 54 minutes ago
        You've imagined a scenario around remote drivers having access to the internal microphones.

        Waymo tells you explicitly that all the microphones inside the car are off unless you press the button to call rider support yourself.

        If you'd ever ridden in waymo, perhaps you'd recall them telling you that the first time you rode one.

        > if you can't think of more perhaps you should keep your comments out of the discussion, because at present you've contributed nothing but ignorance.

        You really shouldn't end your comment with that if you're not going to read up on whether a hypothetical scenario you've imagined up is ignorant or not.