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Earlier this month, Waymo’s chief safety officer Mauricio Peña testified before the Senate Commerce Committee as part of a hearing on self-driving cars.
Many of the questions fell into the standard category of “Let’s educate the public.” But it was Sen. Ed Markey’s question about overseas workers and Peña’s response that caught everyone’s attention.
Asked about human employees who assist with Waymo vehicle navigation and emergencies, Peña said the company has remote guidance employees based overseas in the Philippines. Mr. Markey was furious, and the company admonished Mr. Peña for including the possibility of relying on people without U.S. driver’s licenses to assist vehicles on U.S. roads.
Waymo summarized its response in a blog post written by Ryan McNamara, Waymo’s head of global operations, published Tuesday. It also released a letter sent to Markey’s office.
This post and letter provide new insights into remote assistance work. Waymo, for example, emphasizes that it does not employ anyone to “remotely operate” its robotaxis. Instead, the autonomous driving system takes charge.
Remote assistance (RA) workers are there to respond to specific requests for information that the Waymo self-driving system is looking for. The company also has an Event Response Team (ERT) that is certified for more complex tasks and is based solely in the United States. Waymo says the team will respond to crashes, coordinate with law enforcement and passengers, collect data for regulatory reporting, and coordinate towing.
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We also know that Waymo employs “approximately 70 remote assistance agents around the world at any given time.” The people are based in Arizona, Michigan, and two cities in the Philippines, a detail that has once again angered some lawmakers.
To understand what this means, consider that Waymo has a fleet of 3,000 vehicles that travel more than 4 million miles and provide more than 400,000 rides each week. As a result, there are very few employees monitoring the many robotaxis.
I’ve argued for years that AV companies need to do a better job of explaining what’s going on behind the scenes, especially when it comes to remote instruction. Most companies (many of which no longer exist) avoided this topic like the plague, perhaps trying to make their technology seem more magical and innovative. After all, mystery breeds distrust.
As the debate over remote guidance providers unfolds, Waymo continues to enter new markets. With one exception.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has withdrawn a proposal to amend vehicle and traffic laws that would have effectively legalized robotaxis in states other than New York City. Hochul spokesman Sean Butler told me: “Based on conversations with stakeholders, including Congress, it was clear there was no support to move forward with this proposal.”
One more thing before we get into the rest of the news. Mobility readers don’t believe the Rivian R2 will cost less than $50,000. Last week, I asked you the question, “What is the starting price for the Rivian R2 Launch Edition?” I gave three options: less than $50,000, more than $60,000, and more than $70,000. More than 54% selected “$60,000 or more,” splitting the remaining two choices on this issue.
To take part in the survey, sign up for the Mobility Newsletter here.
small bird
Senior reporter Sean O’Kane gets the scoop on job cuts at Lucid from the Birds. Here’s what we know: Lucid plans to lay off 12% of its workforce, according to an internal memo seen by TechCrunch. We don’t know the exact number of employees affected, but it’s probably in the hundreds.
Lucid has not yet filed its annual financial results for 2025, which will reveal the number of employees it has at the end of the year. The company reported having 6,800 full-time employees worldwide at the end of 2024.
O’Kane has learned more since our report was published. Affected employees found out early Friday morning, and some knew something was wrong when they could no longer access Microsoft Teams. They are technically on 60 days of “administrative leave” and won’t be officially fired until late April.
Have a tip? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.Korosec@techcrunch.com, email my Signal at korosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Great deal!
Amari AI, a startup using AI tools to help custom brokers modernize and respond to President Trump’s trade policies, has raised $4.5 million in funding co-led by prominent early-stage firms First Round Capital and Pear VC. The company said it has already amassed more than 30 customers and helped them move more than $15 billion in goods.
Mexico-based online used car dealer Kavak has raised $300 million with a $200 million equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors include WCM Investment Management and Foxhaven Asset Management, which co-led the round.
LanzaJet, a next-generation fuel technology and fuel production company, has raised $47 million in the first closing of an equity round with a $135 million target. The company said its pre-cash valuation was $650 million. The plan was co-led by IAG and Shell, with participation from Groupe ADP, LanzaTech and Mitsui & Co.
Metafuels, a Swiss-based sustainable aviation fuel startup, has raised $24 million in a Series A round led by UVC Partners. Other investors include Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures, and Fortescue.
Notable reads and other trivia
Ford is working hard to make shareholders forget the $19.5 billion hit it took late last year. Instead, we want to see tech-forward, agile companies building profitable products for the future, ushering in a new era. The company has promised to offer an electric truck starting at $30,000 that can compete with Chinese automakers without hurting profit margins, and it shared how it plans to achieve that goal. Will a combination of 3D printed Lego-like parts, F1 thinking, and incentive programs be enough?
AI data center fever has spread. Just look at the Redwood material for proof. The battery recycling and materials startup launched its energy storage business last year with a focus on AI data centers. The Redwood Energy business is currently the fastest growing division within the company. Read my full article to understand what that means.
Rivian is releasing a companion app that allows owners to use their Apple Watch to perform basic tasks such as locking and unlocking doors, ventilating windows, and activating vehicle alarms. The company has released a more extensive software update that also adds a number of other new features for the vehicle.
Tesla loses bid to overturn jury’s $243 million verdict in Autopilot death trial. Note: Tesla could have settled this lawsuit for $60 million. However, the company achieved a victory against the California Department of Land Transportation. State officials announced they will not suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing license for 30 days because the EV maker stopped using the term “Autopilot” in marketing its cars in the state.
One more thing…
I regularly test vehicles to keep up with the latest in-vehicle technology, EVs, hybrids, or their software updates. Coincidentally, this week I drove a Lucid Air Touring sedan.
It’s been at least a year since I got behind the wheel of an Air. And I wanted to try out the company’s hands-free driving assistance system, which was released last July. My past experience with the company’s advanced driver assistance system, called Dream Drive, was less than impressive. My car frequently ping-ponged in its lane (struggled to center the car), drove too close to the edge of the lane, and got uncomfortably close to the big rigs I was passing on the freeway.
I’m happy to report that Lucid appears to have fixed these issues. The hands-free system was easy to use and I didn’t abuse it over time. As you can see in the photo above, when I held my phone in front of my face, it triggered an alert almost immediately.
