A senior Waymo executive told lawmakers this week that human help still plays a role behind the scenes of the company’s self-driving cars, including support from workers based overseas.
The disclosure came during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Wednesday, February 4, focused on the future of autonomous vehicles. The timing was sensitive. It happened less than two weeks after a Waymo vehicle struck a child walking to school in Santa Monica, California.
During the hearing, Senator Ed Markey questioned how Waymo vehicles respond when they face situations they cannot independently resolve.
“The Waymo phones a human friend for help,” Markey said. “The autonomous vehicle communicates with a so-called remote assistance operator… Despite the crucial role these operators play in autonomous vehicle safety, the public knows almost nothing about those people.”
Waymo chief safety officer Dr. Mauricio Peña confirmed the practice but stressed limits on that support.
“They provide guidance, they do not remotely drive the vehicles,” Peña said. “Waymo asks for guidance in certain situations and gets input, but Waymo is always in charge of the dynamic driving task.”
When pressed on where those workers are located, Peña said some are based in the United States and others abroad. He later clarified that the international operators are located in the Philippines.
Markey raised concerns about safety, cybersecurity, and labor impacts, saying, “Having people overseas influencing American vehicles is a safety issue.”
A Waymo spokesperson said the overseas staffing supports global scaling and emphasized that the workers, known as fleet response agents, never control vehicles directly. The company did not disclose how many operators work domestically versus internationally.
