TechCrunch Mobility: “A stunning lack of transparency”

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You may remember the congressional hearing last month that drew criticism Waymo regarding its use for remote assistance workers in the Philippines. We have addressed this issue extensively. You can read about the company’s telematics and roadside assistance teams here and here.

Waymo tends to get the most attention because these robotaxis are now operating commercially in 10 US cities, with more coming soon. But the issue of remote assistance is not Waymo’s problem. It’s a problem with self-driving vehicle technology.

New report from Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) illustrates my point.

Markey sent letters to seven American companies – Aurora, May navigation, kinetic, Nuru, Tesla, Waymoand Zoox – Work on autonomous vehicle technology with a list of questions. He wanted to know how often these companies’ vehicles depended on the input of remote employees.

They all refused to disclose the results of the investigation conducted by Markey. Markey said it was a “striking lack of transparency on the part of AV companies about their use of remote assistance operators to help guide their self-driving vehicles.”

You can read senior correspondent Sean O’Kane’s article, which delves into the issue and includes the somewhat muted responses from companies. (TechCrunch reached out to all of them.) One interesting admission from Tesla: The company said its Remote Assistance employees are authorized to temporarily take over direct control of the car (something very different from “remote assistance”) as a final escalation maneuver.

But here’s the thing – this isn’t going away. Silence will not defuse the matter. However, Marky seems more eager than ever for answers. Now he is calling National Highway Traffic Safety Administration To investigate companies’ use of remote operators, he said he is “working on legislation to impose strict guardrails on autonomous vehicle companies’ use of remote operators.”

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Nothing this week we were able to verify. Send us tips! Do you have one? Email Kirsten Korosek at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com Or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Offers!

Seems like I was writing about it just last week Uber Being everywhere, at once. I see it as still a trend, although this time it’s not directly related to autonomous vehicles.

Uber said it is buying a Berlin-based startup Black Lanewhich provides on-demand black chauffeur services, as the ride-hailing giant expands deeper into luxury and executive travel services. BlackLane, founded in 2011, has raised more than $100 million to date from car rental companies Sixt, Mercedes-Benz and Alfahim, a group of companies in the UAE.

The timing of the acquisition is notable. This comes just a few weeks after Uber announced the launch of Uber Elite, a driver service that also offers a range of luxury offerings such as airport pickup and in-car amenities.

Other deals that caught my attention…

Air delivery of manaa consumer drone delivery startup based in Ireland, has raised $50 million from ARK Invest, Irish Strategic Investment Fund, Schooner Capital, Coca-Cola HBC, and Molten Ventures.

Saronic techniquesThe Austin-based independent military ship developer has raised $1.75 billion in a Series D funding round led by Kleiner Perkins. The company is now valued at $9.25 billion. Other new investors include Advent International, Bessemer Venture Partners, DFJ Growth, BAM Elevate, and other new partners, and acknowledges the continued commitment of its existing investors, including 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Elad Gil, and Franklin Templeton.

Amplifya startup that has developed a way to retrofit diesel locomotives using battery power, has raised $30 million in seed funding co-led by Israeli venture firm Aleph and Australian mining company Fortescue.

Notable Readings and Other Stories

alsoa small mobility company created at home Rivian Which appeared last year, will work with DoorDash To develop autonomous delivery vehicles. As part of the deal, DoorDash participated in a $200 million Series C funding round as well, which was led by Greenoaks Capital. DoorDash gets a seat on the company’s board of directors, too.

Baidu Robotaxis have been halted throughout Wuhan, China, in some cases detaining passengers for up to two hours due to system failures.

GM It is intensifying its efforts to improve its advanced driver assistance system, Super Cruise. CEO Mary Barra She posted on LinkedIn that GM has begun supervised testing of its next-generation automated driving system on public highways in California and Michigan.

“Soon, more than 200 vehicles will be supervised and manually tested in live traffic, with trained drivers ready to take over at any time. This data will guide future updates to enhance our self-driving capabilities,” she wrote.

clear The company has issued a recall for more than 4,000 Gravity SUVs after discovering a problem with seat belts.

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration It stated that deaths resulting from traffic accidents decreased by 6.7% to 36,640 in 2025 compared to the previous year. This is the second-lowest traffic fatality rate in recorded history at 1.10 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

All those are long TSA Lines are pushing airlines to catch up and adapt. For example, United Airlines updated its mobile app to show TSA wait times at specific airports.

the Subaru Toyota The partnership continues to launch electric vehicles. At the New York Auto Show, Subaru introduced the all-electric Gateway, a three-row SUV that’s essentially a rebadged Toyota Highlander EV.

TeslaIts first-quarter sales figures show that its cheaper cars are not helping it reverse falling sales. (Some older automakers have seen EV sales decline sharply.) This appears to have impacted Tesla’s workforce numbers at its Austin, Texas, factory, which are down 22% in 2025. Meanwhile, I’m talking about a changing of the guard at Tesla (and no, I’m not referring to the string of executive departures there, although that’s interesting). CEO Elon Musk We participated in the end of production of the Tesla Model S and

Toyota woven capital It has hired a new IT director and chief operating officer in a bid to find the “future of mobility.”

Uber And the Chinese self-driving car company We are riding Robotaxi has launched automated taxi operations without a human safety operator in Dubai as part of a wider expansion into the Middle East.

WaymoThe company’s robo-taxi service is now at San Antonio International, its fourth major airport. Meanwhile, Wired looked into Waymo’s school bus problem (meaning investigating the illegal behavior of its robotaxis around school buses). The article provides new details about how the Austin School District is trying to help Waymo solve the problem. It didn’t work.

Another thing…

my podcast, Automatic broadcastI spent some time talking to you What’s up?Vice President of Autonomy at DoorDash. We recorded the episode before the “Also-DoorDash” announcement, which makes his comments about the company’s strategy even more interesting. Check out the episode here.