[Animats]

Tesla is probably going to fake it using human remote drivers. Tesla has been running ads to hire the drivers.[1]

That has all the costs of the self-driving hardware, plus the costs of the remote drivers, but it maintains the illusion that Tesla is a growth company.

[1] https://insideevs.com/news/760863/tesla-hiring-humans-to-con...

[DennisP]

Your link says it's the same thing Waymo is doing:

> Waymo uses what it calls a “fleet response agent,” a human assistant the vehicle can ping when it gets confused by a complex traffic scenario. These agents can view real-time exterior camera feeds, examine a 3D map of what the vehicle sees and even rewind the footage like a DVR to get better context. “As with the rest of our operations, a helpful human is no more than a touch of a button away,” Waymo said in a blog post.

> Tesla's setup appears to be similar. The robotaxis will do the driving, until they don’t. Then a remote human may quietly step in to lend a hand.

[Animats]

Waymo's people don't remotely drive. Waymo wasn't willing to trust cell phone network latency. They just give hints to the car's control system, like "turn around and take another route", when a car gets stuck.

[DennisP]

Yes, and your link says that "Tesla's setup appears to be similar." I haven't seen any real evidence that Tesla's remote operators will actually drive the cars.

[Animats]

Here's one of several stories.[1] Job ads for the remote drivers have been seen.

[1] https://electrek.co/2025/05/29/tesla-testing-robotaxi-servic...

[pests]

Interesting. I believe you, but do known of any announcements or sources? Just curious to learn more.

[Animats]

"Fleet response can influence the Waymo Driver's path, whether indirectly through indicating lane closures, explicitly requesting the AV use a particular lane, or, in the most complex scenarios, explicitly proposing a path for the vehicle to consider. The Waymo Driver evaluates the input from fleet response and independently remains in control of driving. This collaboration enhances the rider experience by efficiently guiding them to their destinations."[1]

It looks like the way this works is that the vehicle first has to come to a stop autonomously, and the control center then gives it instructions on what to do next. It's for getting out of stuck situations.

California's CPUC permit for Waymo operation does not allow teleoperation.[2]

Reviews of the job on Glassdoor indicate that it's more or less OK. No opportunity for advancement, but snacks are included.

[1] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response

[2] https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/consu...

[eclipsetheworld]

Yeah, they should have called them "human fleet response agents" instead. [0]

[0] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response/

[ifdefdebug]

No way I get into a car that has a human driver who literally has no skin in the game.

[henry2023]

They can always fire the driver if he/she causes a few fatalities.

[einpoklum]

Are you sure the driver won't have a poster up above his screen like this one? :

https://is.gd/Lw37Su

[LightBug1]

Poster? Second screen multiplayer.