Tesla takes a swipe at Waymo after Philippines remote worker backlash

"In comments submitted to the state's Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, Tesla referred to the December 2025 San Francisco power outage that left some Waymo vehicles stranded in traffic. Waymo later said the blackout caused a spike in requests from its robotaxis to the company's remote assistance (RA) team, who assist the company's robotaxis when they get into unusual situations. The surge in requests ultimately overwhelmed the system, Waymo said."

"Tesla said that the Waymo shutdown raised "important questions" over the reliability of robotaxi fleets, adding that all of its remote robotaxi operators are based in the US. "Tesla is working to ensure that its autonomous technology is developed, manufactured, and supported in the US," the company said. Tesla added that domestically-based remote operators are more familiar with local road rules, more reliable at intervening when robotaxis run into trouble, have superior "network connectivity," and are less vulnerable to"

"Tesla and Waymo's battle to win the robotaxi race is getting catty. In regulatory comments published on Wednesday, Tesla said it only hired US-based human helpers to assist its robotaxis when they get stuck, after Waymo came under fire for using remote workers in the Philippines to guide their autonomous vehicles out of sticky situations. The two robotaxi rivals have been engaged in regulatory sniping as they jockey to shape California's new autonomous vehicle regulations."

Waymo faced scrutiny from lawmakers for using remote workers in the Philippines to assist robotaxis. Tesla responded in regulatory filings, saying it uses only U.S.-based human operators to assist its robotaxis and that its ride-hailing service was not affected by a December 2025 San Francisco power outage. Waymo reported the blackout caused a surge of remote assistance requests that overwhelmed its system. Tesla argued U.S.-based operators are more familiar with local road rules, more reliable at intervening, have superior network connectivity, and are less vulnerable to international outages while the two companies vie to shape California autonomous vehicle rules.

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