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Earlier this month, Waymo security officer Mauricio Pena testified before the Senate Commerce Committee in a hearing to talk about autonomous vehicles.
Much of the questions fell into the typical “let’s educate the public” category. But it was Senator Ed Markey’s questions about foreign workers and Peña’s answer, which everyone paid attention to.
Peña, when asked about the human workers who help navigate Waymo vehicles or in emergency situations, revealed that the company has remote guidance workers based overseas in the Philippines. That sparked some quick ire from Markey, who admonished Peña about how the company could rely on people without U.S. driver’s licenses to help get its vehicles on U.S. roads, among other criticisms.
Waymo issued a response in a blog post written by Waymo’s head of global operations, Ryan McNamara, which was published on Tuesday. It has too shared the letter sent to Marky’s office.
The post and letter provide new information about remote assistance functions. For example, Waymo emphasizes that it does not employ people to “remotely drive” the robotaxis. Instead, self-driving systems are the ones to blame.
Remote assistance (RA) workers are there to respond to specific requests for information requested by the Waymo self-driving system. The company also has Event Response Teams, or ERTs, people who are certified for more complex tasks and are based exclusively in the United States. That team responds to collisions, interfaces with law enforcement and the rider, collects data for regulatory reports and coordinates towing, Waymo says.
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We also now know that Waymo has approximately “70 Remote Assistance agents on duty around the world at any given time.” Those people are based in Arizona, Michigan and two cities in the Philippines, a detail that has, again, angered some lawmakers.
To give you a sense of what that means, consider that Waymo has a fleet of 3,000 vehicles, and each week their vehicles travel over 4 million miles and provide over 400,000 rides. So very few workers watch a lot of robotics.
I’ve argued for years that AV companies need to do a better job of explaining what’s going on behind the scenes, particularly when it comes to remote guidance. Most companies, many of which no longer exist, avoided the subject like the plague, perhaps in an attempt to make their technology seem more magical and innovative. It turns out that mystery breeds mistrust.
While the debate over remote guidance operators continues, Waymo continues to push for new markets. With one exception.
New York Governor Kathy Hotchul withdrew a proposal that would have amended vehicle and traffic laws to effectively legalize robotaxis in the state outside of New York. Hochul spokesman Sean Butler told me, “Based on conversations with stakeholders, including the Legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to move this proposal forward.”
One more thing before we move on to the rest of the news. Mobility readers certainly don’t think the Rivian R2 will be priced at $50,000 or less. Last week, I polled you all and asked, “What will be the starting price of the release version of the Rivian R2?” I gave three options, under $50,000, over $60,000 and over $70,000. More than 54% chose “over $60,000,” with the remaining two options split on the issue.
To participate in our polls, sign up to the Mobility newsletter here.
A little bird
Senior Journalist Sean O’Kane got the scoop on some layoffs at Clear. Here’s what we know. Lucid is laying off 12% of its workforce, according to an internal memo seen by TechCrunch. We don’t have an exact figure for the workers affected, but it’s likely to be in the hundreds.
Lucid has yet to file its annual earnings for 2025, which would reveal how many employees it had at the end of the year. The company said it has 6,800 full-time employees worldwide at the end of 2024.
Since our report came out, O’Kane has learned more. Affected employees found out early Friday morning, with some learning something was wrong when they lost access to Microsoft Teams. They are technically being placed on 60-day “administrative leave” and won’t be officially fired until late April.
Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07 or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
Amari AIa startup that uses artificial intelligence tools to help custom brokers modernize and navigate 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 startup says it has already amassed more than 30 clients and has helped those companies move more than $15 billion in goods.
Kavakthe online used car dealer based in Mexico, raised $300 million in an equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz, which put in $200 million. Other investors included WCM Investment Management, which led the round, and Foxhaven Asset Management.
LanzaJeta next-generation fuel technology company and fuel producer; raised $47 million in the first close of a targeted $135 million equity round. The company said its upfront valuation is $650 million. It was co-led by IAG and Shell, with participation from Groupe ADP, LanzaTech and Mitsui.
Alternative fuelsa Swiss-based sustainable aviation fuel startup, raised $24 million in a Series A round led by UVC partners. Other investors included Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures and Fortescue.
Notable reads and other items
Passage is working hard to make shareholders forget about the $19.5 billion hit it took late last year. Instead, he wants them to see a technological and agile company building a future profitable product that will usher in a new era. The company, which has promised to deliver an EV truck that starts at $30,000 and can compete with Chinese automakers without undermining profit margins, shared how it plans to achieve that goal. Will a combination of 3D printed Lego-like parts, Formula 1 thinking and a bounty program be enough?
AI data center fever has spread. Just take a look Redwood materials for proof. The battery and materials recycling startup launched an energy storage business last year with a focus on AI data centers. The business, Redwood Energy, is now the fastest growing unit within the company. Read my full story to understand what this means.
Rivian is launching a companion app that will allow owners to perform basic tasks like locking and unlocking the doors, airing the windows and activating the vehicle alarm using the Apple Watch. The company rolled out a wider software update with a host of other new vehicle features as well.
Tesla lost his bid to overturn a jury’s $243 million verdict in a fatal autopilot crash trial. Reminder: Tesla could have settled this case for $60 million. The company scored a victory, however, with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The state agency said it will not suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses for 30 days because the electric vehicle maker stopped using the term “Autopilot” in marketing its vehicles in the state.
One more thing…
I periodically test vehicles to keep up with the latest automotive technology, EVs and hybrids — or software updates to them. Coincidentally, I had one Lucid Air Touring sedan this week.
It’s been at least a year since I’ve been behind the wheel of an Air. And I was anxious to test the company’s hands-free driver assistance system that was released last July. My previous experiences with the company’s advanced driver assistance system, called Dream Drive, left me unimpressed. My vehicle often ping-ponged in the lane (meaning it had trouble centering itself) or stayed too close to the edge, which put me uncomfortably close to the big rigs I passed on the freeway.
I’m happy to report that Lucid seems to have resolved these issues. Activating the hands-free system was simple and didn’t allow me to abuse it for long. As you can see in the image above, if I put a phone in front of my face, an alert was triggered almost immediately.
