Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has promised that the electric vehicle (EV) company will roll out “fully autonomous” vehicles within the next few years. This ambitious plan includes the launch of a robotaxi service by 2026, aimed at competing with other big-name brands in the autonomous vehicle space. Recently, Musk unveiled what he called the “Cybercab,” further solidifying Tesla’s commitment to revolutionizing transportation. However, the term “fully autonomous” may not be entirely accurate, as recent developments reveal that Tesla plans to hire a human team to remotely manage its robotaxi operations.
As Electrek reported, a newly spotted Tesla job listing highlights the need for a remote teleoperations team to support the firm’s upcoming robotaxi fleet. According to the listing, Tesla AI’s Teleoperation team will provide remote access to both robotaxis and Tesla’s line of humanoid robots. The listing emphasizes the necessity for remote control in challenging environments as the AI technology continues to develop. “Our cars and robots operate autonomously in challenging environments. As we iterate on the AI that powers them, we need the ability to access and control them remotely,” the job post states.
The teleoperation center requires the development of “highly optimized low latency reliable data streaming over unreliable transports in the real world.” The role involves creating an application using the Unreal game engine, allowing remote operators to control the robotaxis through a state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) rig. This advanced setup will enable operators to take control of the vehicles whenever they encounter issues.
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Tesla is not the first company to implement such a method. It has become an industry standard for robotaxi companies to use remote human assistants to troubleshoot when vehicles face difficulties. General Motors’ Cruise, for instance, employs remote human operators to intervene when their vehicles encounter problems, which reportedly occur every four to five miles. Similarly, Google’s Waymo and Amazon-owned Zoox also rely on remote technicians to manage their autonomous fleets.
This trend of incorporating human intervention in ostensibly autonomous systems is not unique to the robotaxi industry. Many tech companies market their products as “autonomous” or AI-powered, only to later reveal significant human involvement. For example, pivotal work behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been powered by human workers earning modest wages, as reported by gizmodo.
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Tesla’s reliance on teleoperation may be more significant than its competitors due to its current self-driving technology’s limitations. Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving modes are only considered Level 2 autonomy, requiring constant human supervision. In contrast, Waymo’s robotaxis are classified as Level 4, which means they do not need a driver to be present. However, even this classification is somewhat misleading, as remote human operators still play a critical role in managing these vehicles.
Tesla and Waymo employ different approaches to self-driving technology. Waymo uses a combination of cameras, lidars, and detailed mapping to operate its commercially available ride-hailing service in geo-fenced areas. On the other hand, Tesla relies solely on cameras and neural networks, aiming to train its systems to operate autonomously anywhere. Musk has often criticized Waymo’s strategy as “not scalable” due to its reliance on mapping and geo-fencing.
