Robotaxi companies won’t say how often remote operators intervene

Key Points

• Senator Ed Markey sent letters to seven U.S. autonomous-vehicle firms asking how often their robotaxis rely on remote-operator assistance, and all companies declined to provide a figure.
• Waymo and May Mobility labeled the data 'confidential business information,' while Tesla omitted the question entirely from its response.
• Markey's investigation described the silence as a 'stunning lack of transparency' that makes it difficult for lawmakers, regulators, and the public to assess safety risks.
• Although companies confirm remote operators intervene in rare situations, the exact frequency of such interventions remains undisclosed.

Full Details

In February 2026, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) sent detailed letters to seven U.S. autonomous vehicle companies—Aurora, May Mobility, Motional, Nuro, Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox—asking 14 questions about their remote operations, including how often remote staff guide their vehicles. According to Markey's office, every company refused to directly answer the key question on intervention frequency, with Waymo and May Mobility explicitly citing 'confidential business information' and Tesla ignoring the query entirely. Markey's investigation, released in early April, called this a 'stunning lack of transparency' and warned that the missing data prevents accurate assessment of safety risks by lawmakers and the public. While companies admit remote operators intervene in rare cases—such as Tesla's remote assistants taking control at very low speeds—no firm disclosed specific numbers. Professor Missy Cummings of George Mason University noted that companies have an incentive to hide these figures, as they would reveal 'how not-capable these systems really are.' Markey has since called for federal regulators to scrutinize these programs more closely and plans to introduce legislation to mandate greater transparency in the AV industry.