The chief safety officer for a leading self-driving car company admitted during a Senate hearing Wednesday that it hires remote human operators overseas to guide cars in “difficult driving situations.”
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing Wednesday on the future of self-driving cars during which Waymo and Tesla executives testified. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey pressed Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña on if his company’s remote human operators worked from outside the U.S. and Peña responded that some were based in the Philippines.
In his exchange with Markey, Peña acknowledged that his company’s operators do not remotely drive the vehicle but rather serve to provide additional input and guide Waymo vehicles in what the senator called “difficult driving situations.”
The Waymo official stated that his company uses remote operators in both the U.S. and abroad. When Markey asked Peña what countries the remote employees were based in, he said they were in the Philippines.
The senator also asked the chief safety officer what percent of his operators are based overseas. Peña responded saying he did not have the exact numbers on hand to give to the senator.
“That is completely unacceptable,” said Markey when learning Waymo employed remote operators in the Philippines. “Having people overseas influencing American vehicles is a safety issue. The information the operators receive could be out of date. It could introduce tremendous cyber security vulnerabilities. We don’t know if these people have US driver’s licenses!”
Ethan Teicher, a Waymo spokesperson, told the Daily Caller News Foundation all of his company’s remote human operators, which he called “fleet response agents,” must have a valid passenger car or van license as a hiring requirement.
Teicher stated that international workers do not need driver’s licenses for the Waymo locality they cover, and used the analogy of obtaining an international driver’s license to justify his company’s position.
Fleet response agents receive a training program that includes local road rules, simulations on complex scenarios the vehicle might encounter, hands on practice, and evaluations by experienced fleet response agents, according to the Waymo spokesperson. He added that all agents undergo thorough background checks, receive random drug tests, and are reviewed for traffic violations, infractions and driving-related convictions.
“Their role is never to drive the vehicle remotely,” Teicher said, concerning what the fleet response agent does to help guide Waymo vehicles. “Our fleet response team is not continuously monitoring and intervening in the vehicle’s operation … our technology, the Waymo Driver, is in control of the dynamic driving task even when it’s receiving guidance from remote assistance.”
The Waymo Driver — the artificial intelligence (AI) powered system used to pilot Waymo vehicles — can ask fleet response agents for additional guidance and the Driver can appropriately accept or reject the agents’ suggestions, Teicher told the DCNF.
Markey during the hearing also mentioned concerns over the foreign remote operators taking away jobs from American taxi and rideshare workers.
“And let’s not forget that Waymo is trying to replace the jobs of hardworking taxi and rideshare drivers,” said Markey. “Now you’re saying of the human beings, the human jobs, that remain in the system, you are shipping them overseas!”
“It is one thing when a taxi is replaced by an Uber or a Lyft, it’s another thing when the jobs go completely overseas!” he emphasized.
Teicher stated Waymo has international workers because Waymo plans to enter into the international market and implement Waymo cars throughout the world. He pointed to the planned launch of Waymo in London and Tokyo later in 2026.
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., a Big Tech company that also owns Google.
Markey’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The safety of current self-driving vehicles has come under scrutiny due to accidents connected to the self driving car’s capabilities. Waymo recalled 1,212 vehicles in 2025 from San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin after they repeatedly collided with roadside barriers.
Tesla recalled nearly 363,000 vehicles in 2024 over concerns that its self-driving software, Full Self-Driving Beta, is unsafe.
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