Tesla robotaxis are not necessarily operating without a human in the loop, even its small number of unsupervised robotaxis that lack safety operators. If you’re a self-driving car fan, that reflects a deflating fact of life about the current state of autonomous vehicles: the companies operating them still don’t trust them on the roads without occasional button pushes from a flesh-and-blood human sitting at a desk somewhere.
But Tesla appears to be unique among its competitors when it comes to the extent to which its vehicles occasionally rely on humans. That is to say: they occasionally surrender control to them completely.
Karen Steakley, director of public policy and business development at Tesla, recently divulged this in a letter to Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat representing Massachusetts (as first reported by Wired). Human operators, Steakley wrote, “are authorized to temporarily assume direct vehicle control as the final escalation maneuver after all other available intervention actions have been exhausted.”
Competitors like Waymo say they allow humans to play a role in the operation of a vehicle on the road, but a more limited one, and they take great pains to make this distinction. Waymo’s description of what went wrong last year when its vehicles seemed to have a widespread meltdown during a blackout in San Francisco touched on this, for instance.
The issue involved a large number of Waymo vehicles encountering four-way stoplights that were blacked out, and sending an unmanageable number of confirmation requests to human workers with Waymo’s “fleet response” division, which we now know is largely based in the Philippines.
According to Waymo’s public relations materials online, rather than, say, “steering” the vehicle remotely, perhaps with a joystick, fleet response workers see camera feeds and 3D representations of the Waymo vehicle’s position within its environment and give feedback. They might simply have to click an answer to a question like Is the street I’m trying to turn onto closed? Or they might suggest a new course of action for getting out of a jam, like pulling into a driveway to let others pass.
They do this in a way that is a bit like telling a unit what to do in a real-time strategy video game, except Waymo insists that the “Waymo Driver”—the hardware and software system that drives the car—can refuse the human suggestion, meaning it never surrenders executive control.
Steakley makes it pretty clear that Tesla lacks Waymo’s compunctions about seizing the car’s autonomy entirely. Tesla employs “remote assistance operators” (RAOs) in Austin, Texas and Palo Alto, California in order to “promptly move a vehicle that may be in a compromising position,” she told Markey in the letter. A human might take “temporary control of the vehicle,” and remotely move it up to 10 miles-per-hour, she explained.
This only happens “if direct access is granted by the Tesla [automated driving system].” Though she also notes that if a rider requests help, they may end up communicating with a Tesla RAO “via bidirectional audio.”
RAOs must also, according to Steakley:
- have a “valid U.S. driver’s license for a minimum of 3 years”
- “maintain a license and clean driving record throughout their employment.”
- “undergo criminal background and Motor Vehicle Record checks”
- “pass a U.S. Department of Transportation drug test”
Markey issued a report Tuesday, after receiving similar letters in response to questions about remote operation in these vehicles not just from Tesla and Waymo, but also five other competitors. Markey believes the responses reflect a “patchwork of safety practices across the industry, with significant variation in operator qualifications, response times, and overseas staffing, all without any federal standards governing these operations.”
Gizmodo reached out to Tesla and Waymo about these letters, and about Markey’s report. We will update this article if we hear back.
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![The Seafaring Stars of ‘House of the Dragon’ on That Jaw-Dropping Season 3 Premiere
House of the Dragon is back with a vengeance, kicking off season three with the Battle of the Gullet in what series co-creator Ryan Condal called “arguably the craziest episode of television ever.” Whether or not you thought the premiere, titled “Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood,” lived up to those claims, there’s no denying the naval battle offered a powerful showcase for two characters in particular: Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka “the Sea Snake,” played by Steve Toussaint, and Alyn of Hull, Corlys’ first mate (and illegitimate son), played by Abubakar Salim. In House of the Dragon season two, we saw just how much hurt Alyn carried over the fact that his father, one of Westeros’ most powerful lords, had never been there for Alyn and his younger brother, Addam (Clinton Liberty). As season three begins, Corlys is at a place where he’s able to take responsibility for the estrangement, and he expresses that to Alyn as they’re meeting in his captain’s cabin. It feels like the healing is starting to begin when the battle erupts, and both men shift into warrior mode.
It’s a thrilling sequence, punctuated by standout moments for both Corlys and Alyn. At a recent House of the Dragon press day attended by io9 and other outlets, io9 asked Salim about the moment when Alyn, at a distance, watches Corlys tumble overboard amid a fierce hand-to-hand fight with Triarchy leader Admiral Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn).
© Ollie Upton/HBO He calls out, not “Lord Corlys,” as he’s always called him, but “Father!” It’s a huge shift for the character, coming so soon after their meaningful discussion. “I don’t think anything is going through his mind. I think it’s actually just a very primal, reactive thing that comes out of him,” Salim said. “I think where it comes from is a place of a primal pain, a primal need for a father. I think the scene before that where they’re in the cabin, and they’re having this moment, and Corlys reveals himself is beautifully performed by Steve in a very vulnerable way.”
Even as the action kicks into ferociously high gear, “I think that stays with Alyn, because it’s almost like, ‘We need to finish this conversation because we were getting somewhere.’ Obviously he goes into battle mode, begins fighting and everything, but when he sees Corlys go [overboard] I think all that comes back up, and I think that’s what triggers this almost, like, release. I guess the best [thing] I can kind of relate it to is like when you wake up from a nightmare screaming. You have no idea where it’s come from; it just comes, and I think that’s where that ‘father’ came from.” Before Corlys and Admiral Lohar actually come face-to-face, we see the bad blood between them come to a head in a way that ties into their skills as veteran sailors. As the Battle of the Gullet rages, Corlys realizes Lohar is not really there to fight in Westeros’ war. Instead, she’s hellbent on revenge. She wants the Sea Snake to pay for all the destruction he’s wreaked on Triarchy soldiers for decades. Corlys hits on a plan to weaken the enemy. He points his ship, the Queen Who Never Was, into the narrow Dragonstone pass, knowing Lohar will follow on her ship, the Bitchfist. The Triarchy fleet will be rudderless without its leader. And since Corlys has spent his entire life navigating these treacherous shores, he knows how to make it safely through.
© Ollie Upton/HBO At last, the viewer gets to see the Sea Snake show off the sailing skills that have made him a legend across Westeros. “I remember [episode director Loni Peristere] saying, ‘This is when we see what the Sea Snake can do,’” Toussaint said. “He has memorized this journey. He knows where all the rock [obstacles] are, and this is where we see what he can do. It does feel massive. I mean, look, you don’t play epic; you play the moment. But there was half a mind to, ‘I think this will be impressive for people watching it,’ because it certainly felt [epic] doing it.”
It is indeed epic, but as viewers saw, Lohar is able to trace the Sea Snake’s route exactly, and her ship also emerges unscathed—leading into that up-close-and-personal confrontation involving lots of scrambling, punches, and blades. Corlys’ fate is unknown at the end of episode one, leaving viewers wondering if he and Alyn will ever get a chance to build up their nascent father-son relationship. Fortunately, there’s a new episode of House of the Dragon season three arriving Sunday on HBO. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Seafaring #Stars #House #Dragon #JawDropping #Season #PremiereAbubakar Salim,HBO,House of the Dragon,Steve Toussaint The Seafaring Stars of ‘House of the Dragon’ on That Jaw-Dropping Season 3 Premiere
House of the Dragon is back with a vengeance, kicking off season three with the Battle of the Gullet in what series co-creator Ryan Condal called “arguably the craziest episode of television ever.” Whether or not you thought the premiere, titled “Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood,” lived up to those claims, there’s no denying the naval battle offered a powerful showcase for two characters in particular: Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka “the Sea Snake,” played by Steve Toussaint, and Alyn of Hull, Corlys’ first mate (and illegitimate son), played by Abubakar Salim. In House of the Dragon season two, we saw just how much hurt Alyn carried over the fact that his father, one of Westeros’ most powerful lords, had never been there for Alyn and his younger brother, Addam (Clinton Liberty). As season three begins, Corlys is at a place where he’s able to take responsibility for the estrangement, and he expresses that to Alyn as they’re meeting in his captain’s cabin. It feels like the healing is starting to begin when the battle erupts, and both men shift into warrior mode.
It’s a thrilling sequence, punctuated by standout moments for both Corlys and Alyn. At a recent House of the Dragon press day attended by io9 and other outlets, io9 asked Salim about the moment when Alyn, at a distance, watches Corlys tumble overboard amid a fierce hand-to-hand fight with Triarchy leader Admiral Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn).
© Ollie Upton/HBO He calls out, not “Lord Corlys,” as he’s always called him, but “Father!” It’s a huge shift for the character, coming so soon after their meaningful discussion. “I don’t think anything is going through his mind. I think it’s actually just a very primal, reactive thing that comes out of him,” Salim said. “I think where it comes from is a place of a primal pain, a primal need for a father. I think the scene before that where they’re in the cabin, and they’re having this moment, and Corlys reveals himself is beautifully performed by Steve in a very vulnerable way.”
Even as the action kicks into ferociously high gear, “I think that stays with Alyn, because it’s almost like, ‘We need to finish this conversation because we were getting somewhere.’ Obviously he goes into battle mode, begins fighting and everything, but when he sees Corlys go [overboard] I think all that comes back up, and I think that’s what triggers this almost, like, release. I guess the best [thing] I can kind of relate it to is like when you wake up from a nightmare screaming. You have no idea where it’s come from; it just comes, and I think that’s where that ‘father’ came from.” Before Corlys and Admiral Lohar actually come face-to-face, we see the bad blood between them come to a head in a way that ties into their skills as veteran sailors. As the Battle of the Gullet rages, Corlys realizes Lohar is not really there to fight in Westeros’ war. Instead, she’s hellbent on revenge. She wants the Sea Snake to pay for all the destruction he’s wreaked on Triarchy soldiers for decades. Corlys hits on a plan to weaken the enemy. He points his ship, the Queen Who Never Was, into the narrow Dragonstone pass, knowing Lohar will follow on her ship, the Bitchfist. The Triarchy fleet will be rudderless without its leader. And since Corlys has spent his entire life navigating these treacherous shores, he knows how to make it safely through.
© Ollie Upton/HBO At last, the viewer gets to see the Sea Snake show off the sailing skills that have made him a legend across Westeros. “I remember [episode director Loni Peristere] saying, ‘This is when we see what the Sea Snake can do,’” Toussaint said. “He has memorized this journey. He knows where all the rock [obstacles] are, and this is where we see what he can do. It does feel massive. I mean, look, you don’t play epic; you play the moment. But there was half a mind to, ‘I think this will be impressive for people watching it,’ because it certainly felt [epic] doing it.”
It is indeed epic, but as viewers saw, Lohar is able to trace the Sea Snake’s route exactly, and her ship also emerges unscathed—leading into that up-close-and-personal confrontation involving lots of scrambling, punches, and blades. Corlys’ fate is unknown at the end of episode one, leaving viewers wondering if he and Alyn will ever get a chance to build up their nascent father-son relationship. Fortunately, there’s a new episode of House of the Dragon season three arriving Sunday on HBO. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Seafaring #Stars #House #Dragon #JawDropping #Season #PremiereAbubakar Salim,HBO,House of the Dragon,Steve Toussaint](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/06/abubakar-salim_Hotds3ep1.jpg)


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