California bill aims to put more human operators on robotaxis like Waymo’s; company says proposal would be crippling

Source: New York Post

A Silicon Valley lawmaker wants to require robotaxis like Google’s Waymo to hire human operators to be on standby locally in case the system goes haywire – like it did last winter when a blackout in San Francisco created a logjam of paralyzed robot cars.   The legislative push — which Waymo described as potentially crippling — comes after the company’s chief safety officer Mauricio Peña sparked outrage for admitting in US Senate testimony that the crucial human helpers it relies on live in the Philippines. The admission came as lawmakers grilled the company after one of its vehicles struck a child walking to school in Santa Monica.