Elon Musk’s Tesla has admitted there are “rare cases” where its autonomous vehicles are driven by remote workers, according to new documents released Tuesday by Democratic Senator Edward Markey.
Karen Steakley, Tesla’s director of public policy and business development, described the company’s use of “remote assistance operators” in a letter sent to Markey last week. These remote workers can help when a rider or the car’s autonomous driving system requests assistance, she explained.
They can also take control of the vehicle, such as a robotaxi, in certain circumstances.
“As a redundancy measure in rare cases, however, RAOs are authorized to temporarily assume direct vehicle control as the final escalation maneuver after all other available intervention actions have been exhausted,” Steakley wrote.
This is used as a “last resort,” and is “always limited in scope and direction,” she added.
These operators can only take “temporary control” when the car is driving at 2 mph or slower, according to the letter. Then, if the Tesla’s automated driving system gives them direct access, they can drive at speeds up to 10 mph.
“This capability enables Tesla to promptly move a vehicle that may be in a compromising position, thereby mitigating the need to wait for a first responder or Tesla field representative to manually recover the vehicle,” Steakley added.
Tesla is currently offering autonomous vehicle rides in Austin, Texas, which users can access through the company’s Robotaxi app, according to its website.
The company said its remote assistance operators are in-house employees who work at centers in Austin and Palo Alto, California.
“The Palo Alto RAOs are charged with providing an added layer of redundancy to the Austin service,” Steakley said.
Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, published responses from Tesla and six other autonomous vehicle companies as part of an investigation into their use of remote assistance operators.
“Autonomous vehicle companies have long boasted they can eliminate road fatalities caused by human error,” he said Tuesday. “Now it is time they are honest about their technology’s reliance on human help.”
Markey, who released a report detailing his findings, highlighted the importance of transparency from autonomous vehicle companies.
“That Tesla’s RAOs are permitted to teleoperate the vehicle makes it even more important that the company is transparent about the frequency of RAO interventions,” his report states.
“Second, given Tesla’s history of misleading consumers about the true level of autonomy in its vehicles through brand names such as ‘Full Self-Driving’ — which, despite the name, still requires constant human supervision — the public may be rightfully skeptical that Tesla’s robotaxis are truly autonomous and are not quietly relying on RAOs or teleoperators,” the report continues.
The Independent has contacted Tesla for comment.
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