①A U.S. senator pointed out in an investigation that Tesla acknowledged its autonomous vehicles are driven by remote staff in very rare cases; ②Tesla explained that remote assistance operators can temporarily control the vehicle only when it is traveling at speeds below 2 miles per hour, as a measure to address emergencies; ③The senator criticized Tesla for misleading consumers and questioned whether its driverless taxis can truly achieve autonomous driving.
Cailian Press, April 1 (Edited by Ma Lan) Autonomous driving technology still has a way to go before full maturity, with the key being the term ‘autonomous.’
U.S. Democratic Senator Edward Markey noted in an investigative document released on Tuesday that Tesla, the electric vehicle company led by Elon Musk, admitted that its autonomous vehicles are driven by remote staff in extremely rare cases.
Karen Steakley, Tesla’s Director of Public Policy and Business Development, described in a letter to Markey last week how the company utilizes ‘remote assistance operators.’ She explained that these remote staff can provide help when passengers or the autonomous system requires assistance.
However, she emphasized that remote assistance operators serve as an additional measure, authorized to temporarily take direct control of the vehicle only in extremely rare cases after all other available interventions have been exhausted.
Extremely rare cases
Steakley stated that operators can temporarily control the vehicle only when it is traveling at speeds below 2 miles per hour. Thereafter, if Tesla’s autonomous driving system grants them direct control, they can drive the vehicle at a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour.
She pointed out that this functionality allows Tesla to quickly move vehicles that may be in hazardous positions, thereby reducing the need to wait for emergency responders or Tesla field representatives to manually recover the vehicle. Remote assistance operators are all internal employees of Tesla, working from centers located in Austin and Palo Alto, California.
Markey criticized on Tuesday that companies developing autonomous vehicles have long boasted about their ability to eliminate road traffic accidents caused by human error, yet they admit their technology still relies on human assistance.
He also stated that given Tesla’s repeated misleading of consumers through brand names like ‘Full Self-Driving (FSD),’ the public has reason to question whether Tesla’s driverless taxis truly achieve autonomous driving and whether they secretly depend on remote operators.
