First Waymo
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Interesting. How far did you go?
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Very short ride. I wanted to take one from the airport to downtown but they don’t pick up at the airport.
So I accidentally went to the wrong hotel and my actual hotel was three blocks away. Mayla didn’t want to walk as her knee was acting up from the flight, I was embarrassed to call a human being for a 0.2 block ride.
So it was a perfect solution. I’ll probably keep taking them while I’m here.
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Hopefully your ride wasn't quite that expensive!!!!
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During the hearing, Peña acknowledged that Waymo uses human operators outside the U.S., including in the Philippines, though he said he did not have exact figures on how many. He pushed back on the idea that those workers are remotely driving the cars.
“They provide guidance,” Peña said, according to Futurism. “They do not remotely drive the vehicles. Waymo asks for guidance in certain situations and gets an input, but the Waymo vehicle is always in charge of the dynamic driving tasks.”
Waymo has previously been open about using human assistance. In a May 2024 blog post, the company compared its relationship with external operators to a “phone-a-friend” system. The post explained that remote agents can help vehicles navigate tricky situations, such as selecting the best lane or proposing “a path for the vehicle to consider.”
Still, the company emphasized that its software remains in control. “The Waymo Driver does not rely solely on the inputs it receives from the fleet response agent and it is in control of the vehicle at all times,” the post said.
