What the data shows
- 1
Tesla has published the most about its remote assistance team (9 sourced facts).
- 2
7 companies say where their remote staff work, from in-house U.S. centres to teams abroad.
- 3
10 stated staff counts and operator-to-vehicle ratios from 10 companies.
- 4
24 facts describe the job itself: licences and certifications required, shift lengths and pay.
Figure 1
The remote assistance teams behind robotaxis, trucks and delivery robots
How many people remotely assist each company's driverless vehicles, where do they work and what shifts do they keep?
| Company | Remote staff or ratio | Sourced facts |
|---|---|---|
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | n/a | 9 |
| WaymoWaymo | Waymo said about 70 Remote Assistance agents are on duty worldwide at any given time, including its US-based Event Response Team, for a fleet it put at 3,000 vehicles. | 8 |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | n/a | 6 |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | n/a | 4 |
| Baidu Apollo GoHuxiu (from Phoenix Finance) | A reporter visiting Apollo Go's Wuhan operations hub reported that its remote safety officers each control at least three vehicles, monitoring remotely and taking over when needed. | 4 |
| KodiakKodiak AI, Inc. (SEC filing) | n/a | 3 |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | May Mobility said it employs a relatively small number of Remote Assistance Agents, all working from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters, none outside the US. | 3 |
| MotionalOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | n/a | 3 |
| China Ministry of Transport (rule for robotaxi operators)People's Daily | China's Ministry of Transport guideline for autonomous vehicle transport services lets fully driverless robotaxis in designated areas use remote safety officers, at a person-to-vehicle ratio of no less than 1:3 (at most three vehicles per remote officer). | 2 |
| CruiseCNBC | Cruise said that during driverless operations, before its October 2023 grounding, it had roughly 1 remote assistant agent for every 15 to 20 driverless vehicles. | 2 |
| NuroOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | n/a | 2 |
| Pony.aiPony AI Inc. (Form 6-K, SEC) | Pony.ai said it was confident of reaching a 1:30 remote assistant-to-vehicle ratio by the end of 2025, one remote assistant monitoring 30 vehicles. | 2 |
| Serve RoboticsServe Robotics Inc. (Form 10-K, SEC) | Serve Robotics said its robots' autonomy lets one remote supervisor safely monitor up to four moving robots. | 2 |
| TSMG (Terry Soot Management Group)TSMG (Lever job board) | n/a | 2 |
| ZiplineZipline | Zipline said about a dozen people, mainly remote pilots in command, worked at its remote operations control center (ROCC) in Concord, North Carolina, monitoring its Utah and Arkansas distribution centers. | 2 |
| ZooxOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | n/a | 2 |
| Amazon Prime AirAmazon (amazon.jobs) | n/a | 1 |
| MooveTechCrunch | n/a | 1 |
| TransdevTransdev North America | n/a | 1 |
| WeRideWeRide | WeRide said upgrades to its remote assistance system improved its remote assistance human-to-vehicle ratio in China from 1:10 in 2024 to 1:40. | 1 |
| WingWing | Wing said its drones essentially fly themselves, so each operator is approved to oversee many drones at once from a remote location, with no pilots stationed at stores or homes; it gave no number. | 1 |
Base: 21 companies, 61 facts, each linked to the page that states it (reviewed 18 Oct 2026).
Remote assistance: people who answer a driverless vehicle's requests for guidance; most companies say their staff advise the vehicle rather than drive it.
Credit: compiled by RobotTraining.jobs Research, Who Watches the Robotaxis: Remote Assistance Teams, Ratios, Shifts and Training, checked 18 Oct 2026.
Figure 2
How many people per vehicle
How many remote assistants or supervisors do companies say they need per vehicle or robot?
| Company | As stated |
|---|---|
| Baidu Apollo GoHuxiu (from Phoenix Finance) | A reporter visiting Apollo Go's Wuhan operations hub reported that its remote safety officers each control at least three vehicles, monitoring remotely and taking over when needed. |
| China Ministry of Transport (rule for robotaxi operators)People's Daily | China's Ministry of Transport guideline for autonomous vehicle transport services lets fully driverless robotaxis in designated areas use remote safety officers, at a person-to-vehicle ratio of no less than 1:3 (at most three vehicles per remote officer). |
| CruiseCNBC | Cruise said that during driverless operations, before its October 2023 grounding, it had roughly 1 remote assistant agent for every 15 to 20 driverless vehicles. |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | May Mobility said it employs a relatively small number of Remote Assistance Agents, all working from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters, none outside the US. |
| Pony.aiPony AI Inc. (Form 6-K, SEC) | Pony.ai said it was confident of reaching a 1:30 remote assistant-to-vehicle ratio by the end of 2025, one remote assistant monitoring 30 vehicles. |
| Serve RoboticsServe Robotics Inc. (Form 10-K, SEC) | Serve Robotics said its robots' autonomy lets one remote supervisor safely monitor up to four moving robots. |
| WaymoWaymo | Waymo said about 70 Remote Assistance agents are on duty worldwide at any given time, including its US-based Event Response Team, for a fleet it put at 3,000 vehicles. |
| WeRideWeRide | WeRide said upgrades to its remote assistance system improved its remote assistance human-to-vehicle ratio in China from 1:10 in 2024 to 1:40. |
| WingWing | Wing said its drones essentially fly themselves, so each operator is approved to oversee many drones at once from a remote location, with no pilots stationed at stores or homes; it gave no number. |
| ZiplineZipline | Zipline said about a dozen people, mainly remote pilots in command, worked at its remote operations control center (ROCC) in Concord, North Carolina, monitoring its Utah and Arkansas distribution centers. |
Base: 10 stated staff counts and ratios.
Companies count differently (agents on duty at once, agents employed, vehicles per supervisor); each figure is given as its source states it.
Credit: compiled by RobotTraining.jobs Research, Who Watches the Robotaxis: Remote Assistance Teams, Ratios, Shifts and Training, checked 18 Oct 2026.
Figure 3
Training, shifts and pay
What does the remote assistance job require, what shifts does it keep and what does it pay?
| Company | As stated |
|---|---|
| Amazon Prime AirAmazon (amazon.jobs) | Amazon's Prime Air Flight Monitor role in Dallas, which monitors all active drone flights in an assigned region, lists $35.00 per hour, requires an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate and involves shifts of up to 12 hours. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Aurora remote assistance specialists work 12-hour day or night shifts, rotating between 4 days on and 3 off and 3 days on and 4 off, to cover 24/7 driverless truck operations. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Aurora cross-trained part of its existing workforce, including former commercially licensed vehicle operators, into remote assistance specialists; applicants need at least five years of driving history and a clean record. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Aurora said its remote assistance specialists are employees eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation and benefits. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Avride's Remote Assistance Operator role in Austin pays $25.00 per hour for full-time 8-hour shifts, 5 days a week, monitoring an assigned vehicle through its Remote Command interface and camera feeds. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Avride pays Dallas Autonomous Vehicle Rideshare Drivers (in-car operators for its Uber robotaxi service) $25 per hour on morning shifts and $27 per hour on evening shifts, as an ongoing contract role. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Avride requires Dallas AV rideshare drivers to have held a valid US driving license for 3+ years and to have no DUI, drug or alcohol offenses in the last 5 years, with prior experience as a professional driver, driving instructor, AV operator or similar. |
| Baidu Apollo GoSixth Tone (from Beijing Youth Daily) | An Apollo Go safety operator in Wuhan said he earns roughly what he made as a ride-hailing driver (200 to 300 yuan a day after fuel), but the job is more stable and insured. |
| Baidu Apollo GoHuxiu (from Phoenix Finance) | A road tester told the reporter that Apollo Go safety officers in Wuhan usually work two shifts, changing over at 3 PM and 11 PM. |
| China Ministry of Transport (rule for robotaxi operators)IT之家 (ITHome) | The same guideline requires safety officers to be trained in autonomous vehicle technology and the transport business, know traffic law, the routes and the automated system's controls, be able to take over in an emergency, and be retrained after system updates. |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | May Mobility Remote Assistance Agents mostly work 9:45 AM to 6:00 PM EST (staggered 7:45 AM to 4:00 PM); each shift is 7 hours 45 minutes with 6 hours 55 minutes of active work and a 10-minute break every 75 minutes. |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | May Mobility trains Remote Assistance Agents with a multi-day bootcamp and simulations, then certification, closed-course live-vehicle training and supervised public-road training; it requires a US license and remote operations experience and strongly prefers AV experience and an AV-related B.S. |
| MotionalOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Motional's Remote Vehicle Assistance agents go through a structured training program of about 60 days: classroom, closed-course practice, on-the-job training and supervised over-the-shoulder instruction. |
| NuroOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Nuro requires remote assistants to hold a US driver's license and a clean driving record; California-based remote assistants are reviewed and added to its AV permits by the California DMV, and all are drug tested on a model of US DOT rules. |
| Pony.aiKrASIA | New Pony.ai remote assistance operators get about a month of classroom and practical training, then typically spend about six months under one-on-one supervision from an experienced operator. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Tesla requires its remote assistance operators to have held a valid US driver's license for at least 3 years and keep a clean driving record, and to pass criminal background, motor vehicle record and DOT drug checks. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Tesla remote assistance operators may work at most 5 continuous days; shifts typically consist of 7.5 hours of in-seat active work with two mandatory 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Tesla remote operators get classroom and behind-the-wheel training, and Tesla tries to select candidates with prior ride-hailing or other in-vehicle experience. |
| TeslaBusiness Insider (via AOL) | Business Insider reported Tesla was recruiting factory workers and sales staff as AI operators who sit in the driver's seat of its Bay Area ride-hailing cars, with pay of around $25 to $30 per hour and a $500 referral bonus. |
| WaymoWaymo | Waymo's overseas Remote Assistance agents must hold a driver's license recognized by the Philippine Land Transportation Office, reach at least B2 CEFR English, pass drug tests and have clean driving records. |
| WaymoWaymo | Waymo Remote Assistance agents work staggered and dedicated shifts, with examples given of 5 AM to 2 PM, 1 PM to 10 PM and 9 PM to 6 AM. |
| WaymoWaymo | Waymo Remote Assistance agents must pass certification tests for each request type before handling live requests, and all agents take recertification training every six months. |
| ZiplineZipline (Greenhouse job board) | Zipline's Fleet Commander (Remote Pilot in Command) role at its Fleet Command facility in South San Francisco pays $34.00 to $45.00 per hour; the commander owns the final safety call for multiple concurrent aircraft and needs an FAA Part 107 certificate. |
| ZooxOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Zoox tacticians must hold a valid driver's license and pass a motor vehicle records check, a background check and drug screening; their training follows California DMV Article 3.7 section 227.38(f) and SAE recommendations. |
Base: 24 facts about the job itself.
Most of these come from the companies' 2024 and 2026 answers to U.S. Senate inquiries and their own posts.
Credit: compiled by RobotTraining.jobs Research, Who Watches the Robotaxis: Remote Assistance Teams, Ratios, Shifts and Training, checked 18 Oct 2026.
Figure 4
Every sourced fact
What exactly has each company said about the people behind its driverless vehicles?
| Company | Kind | Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Prime AirAmazon (amazon.jobs) | Pay | Amazon's Prime Air Flight Monitor role in Dallas, which monitors all active drone flights in an assigned region, lists $35.00 per hour, requires an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate and involves shifts of up to 12 hours. |
| AuroraTransport Topics | Safety drivers | Aurora's second-generation trucks, unveiled in July 2026, run with no human in the cab, though a roadside assistance specialist may sometimes ride in the back seat on longer routes; Aurora says these employees are not observers. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Where they work | Aurora said its remote assistance specialists, all employees in the US, work from Aurora facilities in Coppell, Texas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Shifts | Aurora remote assistance specialists work 12-hour day or night shifts, rotating between 4 days on and 3 off and 3 days on and 4 off, to cover 24/7 driverless truck operations. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | Aurora cross-trained part of its existing workforce, including former commercially licensed vehicle operators, into remote assistance specialists; applicants need at least five years of driving history and a clean record. |
| AuroraOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Pay | Aurora said its remote assistance specialists are employees eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation and benefits. |
| AuroraTrucking Dive | Safety drivers | Less than three weeks after launching driverless trucking in Texas, Aurora moved a human observer from the back of the cab into the driver's seat at the request of truck maker Paccar; Aurora said the observer does not operate the truck. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Pay | Avride's Remote Assistance Operator role in Austin pays $25.00 per hour for full-time 8-hour shifts, 5 days a week, monitoring an assigned vehicle through its Remote Command interface and camera feeds. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Pay | Avride pays Dallas Autonomous Vehicle Rideshare Drivers (in-car operators for its Uber robotaxi service) $25 per hour on morning shifts and $27 per hour on evening shifts, as an ongoing contract role. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Staffing firm | Avride's Dallas driver application asks whether candidates previously worked at Avride directly or through staffing firm HireArt as a contract employee. |
| AvrideAvride (Greenhouse job board) | Training and requirements | Avride requires Dallas AV rideshare drivers to have held a valid US driving license for 3+ years and to have no DUI, drug or alcohol offenses in the last 5 years, with prior experience as a professional driver, driving instructor, AV operator or similar. |
| Baidu Apollo GoSixth Tone (from Beijing Youth Daily) | Safety drivers | Apollo Go recruits its safety operators from driving instructors and examiners, ride-hailing drivers, former servicemembers and vehicle quality inspectors; some sit behind the wheel on safety tests while others monitor all in-service robotaxis remotely. |
| Baidu Apollo GoSixth Tone (from Beijing Youth Daily) | Pay | An Apollo Go safety operator in Wuhan said he earns roughly what he made as a ride-hailing driver (200 to 300 yuan a day after fuel), but the job is more stable and insured. |
| Baidu Apollo GoHuxiu (from Phoenix Finance) | Operators per vehicle | A reporter visiting Apollo Go's Wuhan operations hub reported that its remote safety officers each control at least three vehicles, monitoring remotely and taking over when needed. |
| Baidu Apollo GoHuxiu (from Phoenix Finance) | Shifts | A road tester told the reporter that Apollo Go safety officers in Wuhan usually work two shifts, changing over at 3 PM and 11 PM. |
| China Ministry of Transport (rule for robotaxi operators)People's Daily | Operators per vehicle | China's Ministry of Transport guideline for autonomous vehicle transport services lets fully driverless robotaxis in designated areas use remote safety officers, at a person-to-vehicle ratio of no less than 1:3 (at most three vehicles per remote officer). |
| China Ministry of Transport (rule for robotaxi operators)IT之家 (ITHome) | Training and requirements | The same guideline requires safety officers to be trained in autonomous vehicle technology and the transport business, know traffic law, the routes and the automated system's controls, be able to take over in an emergency, and be retrained after system updates. |
| CruiseCNBC | Operators per vehicle | Cruise said that during driverless operations, before its October 2023 grounding, it had roughly 1 remote assistant agent for every 15 to 20 driverless vehicles. |
| CruiseCNBC | Other | Cruise said a remote assistance session was triggered roughly every four to five miles in its driverless fleet, and CEO Kyle Vogt said its AVs were remotely assisted 2 to 4% of the time. |
| KodiakKodiak AI, Inc. (SEC filing) | Other | In Kodiak's Assisted Autonomy mode, a driver holding a commercial driver's license sits at a remote assistance station with a steering wheel, pedals and brakes to give guidance to the Kodiak Driver. |
| KodiakKodiak AI, Inc. (SEC filing) | Staffing firm | Kodiak says it relies on partners such as Roush for vehicle upfitting and for remote monitoring and remote assistance services, and operates its Assisted Autonomy system in partnership with Vay Technology. |
| KodiakKodiak AI, Inc. (SEC filing) | Where they work | Kodiak runs a 24/7 Operations Center with real-time visibility into every Kodiak Driver truck; its leased Lancaster, Texas facility (about 75,000 square feet) mainly houses operations. |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Remote staff | May Mobility said it employs a relatively small number of Remote Assistance Agents, all working from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters, none outside the US. |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Shifts | May Mobility Remote Assistance Agents mostly work 9:45 AM to 6:00 PM EST (staggered 7:45 AM to 4:00 PM); each shift is 7 hours 45 minutes with 6 hours 55 minutes of active work and a 10-minute break every 75 minutes. |
| May MobilityOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | May Mobility trains Remote Assistance Agents with a multi-day bootcamp and simulations, then certification, closed-course live-vehicle training and supervised public-road training; it requires a US license and remote operations experience and strongly prefers AV experience and an AV-related B.S. |
| MooveTechCrunch | Staffing firm | Waymo outsourced fleet management operations for its Phoenix robotaxi service, and later Miami, to mobility fintech Moove. |
| MotionalOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Where they work | Motional said all of its Remote Vehicle Assistance agents work from a center in Las Vegas, Nevada. |
| MotionalOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | Motional's Remote Vehicle Assistance agents go through a structured training program of about 60 days: classroom, closed-course practice, on-the-job training and supervised over-the-shoulder instruction. |
| MotionalOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Other | Motional said about 90% of its remote interactions in 2022 involved navigating unusual static obstacles, a category now down to about 6% of remote assistance interactions. |
| NuroOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Where they work | Nuro said all of its remote assistants who supervise vehicles in the US have always been located in the US. |
| NuroOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | Nuro requires remote assistants to hold a US driver's license and a clean driving record; California-based remote assistants are reviewed and added to its AV permits by the California DMV, and all are drug tested on a model of US DOT rules. |
| Pony.aiKrASIA | Training and requirements | New Pony.ai remote assistance operators get about a month of classroom and practical training, then typically spend about six months under one-on-one supervision from an experienced operator. |
| Pony.aiPony AI Inc. (Form 6-K, SEC) | Operators per vehicle | Pony.ai said it was confident of reaching a 1:30 remote assistant-to-vehicle ratio by the end of 2025, one remote assistant monitoring 30 vehicles. |
| Serve RoboticsServe Robotics Inc. (Form 10-K, SEC) | Staffing firm | Serve Robotics said some of its remote piloting services are provided by third-party vendors, including service centers outside the US. |
| Serve RoboticsServe Robotics Inc. (Form 10-K, SEC) | Operators per vehicle | Serve Robotics said its robots' autonomy lets one remote supervisor safely monitor up to four moving robots. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Other | Tesla told Senator Markey its remote assistance operators may, as a last resort, take direct control of a Robotaxi, only when it is at 2 mph or less and with speed capped at 10 mph; it was the only one of the seven companies surveyed to allow this. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Where they work | Tesla said all of its remote assistance operators are in-house Tesla employees working from US facilities in Austin, Texas and Palo Alto, California, with the Palo Alto team adding redundancy for the Austin service. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | Tesla requires its remote assistance operators to have held a valid US driver's license for at least 3 years and keep a clean driving record, and to pass criminal background, motor vehicle record and DOT drug checks. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Shifts | Tesla remote assistance operators may work at most 5 continuous days; shifts typically consist of 7.5 hours of in-seat active work with two mandatory 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch. |
| TeslaOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | Tesla remote operators get classroom and behind-the-wheel training, and Tesla tries to select candidates with prior ride-hailing or other in-vehicle experience. |
| TeslaBusiness Insider (via AOL) | Safety drivers | A CPUC spokesperson said Tesla had registered 798 drivers and 1,655 vehicles for its California ride-hailing service, up from 128 drivers and 28 cars at the August 2025 launch; Tesla does not have to update the CPUC as it adds drivers. |
| TeslaBusiness Insider (via AOL) | Pay | Business Insider reported Tesla was recruiting factory workers and sales staff as AI operators who sit in the driver's seat of its Bay Area ride-hailing cars, with pay of around $25 to $30 per hour and a $500 referral bonus. |
| TeslaTechCrunch | Safety drivers | At the June 2025 Austin Robotaxi launch, each car carried a Tesla employee in the right front passenger seat as a safety monitor. |
| TeslaBusiness Insider (via AOL) | Safety drivers | Tesla registered more than 220 test drivers and 100 vehicles with the California DMV in December 2024 for a permit to test its self-driving software with a test driver. |
| TransdevTransdev North America | Staffing firm | Transdev says that since 2019 it has tested, deployed and operated Waymo's robotaxi fleets in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, with over 1,000 operators supporting Waymo's technology validation and 24/7 commercial service. |
| TSMG (Terry Soot Management Group)TSMG (Lever job board) | Staffing firm | Field data collection firm TSMG hires contract autonomous vehicle test operators in Los Angeles who monitor a client's self-driving vehicles in autonomous mode and offer ride hail service to the public; they must be 21+, hold a CDL and have 3 years of Class C driving. |
| TSMG (Terry Soot Management Group)TSMG (Lever job board) | Staffing firm | TSMG recruits contract AV testing shift supervisors in Los Angeles who manage a team of operators and act as liaison between the client's program managers and its vehicle operators; the client is not named. |
| WaymoWaymo | Remote staff | Waymo said about 70 Remote Assistance agents are on duty worldwide at any given time, including its US-based Event Response Team, for a fleet it put at 3,000 vehicles. |
| WaymoWaymo | Where they work | Waymo told Senator Markey that about half of its Remote Assistance agents, including the whole Event Response Team, are in the United States and the other half are in the Philippines; Markey's report found Waymo is the only AV company of the seven it surveyed that uses overseas remote assistance operators. |
| WaymoWaymo | Where they work | Waymo runs four remote assistance locations: Arizona, Michigan and two cities in the Philippines. |
| WaymoWaymo | Training and requirements | Waymo's overseas Remote Assistance agents must hold a driver's license recognized by the Philippine Land Transportation Office, reach at least B2 CEFR English, pass drug tests and have clean driving records. |
| WaymoWaymo | Staffing firm | Waymo said oversight of its overseas (Philippines) Remote Assistance agents is carried out through vendor partners under direct Waymo supervision; the letter does not name the vendors. |
| WaymoWaymo | Shifts | Waymo Remote Assistance agents work staggered and dedicated shifts, with examples given of 5 AM to 2 PM, 1 PM to 10 PM and 9 PM to 6 AM. |
| WaymoWaymo | Training and requirements | Waymo Remote Assistance agents must pass certification tests for each request type before handling live requests, and all agents take recertification training every six months. |
| WaymoWaymo | Other | Waymo said that every three months 45% of its Remote Assistance agents undergo a random drug and alcohol test, on top of testing at hire and for reasonable suspicion. |
| WeRideWeRide | Operators per vehicle | WeRide said upgrades to its remote assistance system improved its remote assistance human-to-vehicle ratio in China from 1:10 in 2024 to 1:40. |
| WingWing | Operators per vehicle | Wing said its drones essentially fly themselves, so each operator is approved to oversee many drones at once from a remote location, with no pilots stationed at stores or homes; it gave no number. |
| ZiplineZipline (Greenhouse job board) | Pay | Zipline's Fleet Commander (Remote Pilot in Command) role at its Fleet Command facility in South San Francisco pays $34.00 to $45.00 per hour; the commander owns the final safety call for multiple concurrent aircraft and needs an FAA Part 107 certificate. |
| ZiplineZipline | Remote staff | Zipline said about a dozen people, mainly remote pilots in command, worked at its remote operations control center (ROCC) in Concord, North Carolina, monitoring its Utah and Arkansas distribution centers. |
| ZooxOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Where they work | Zoox said its TeleGuidance tacticians (its remote assistance operators) are all located in the US, across multiple TeleGuidance operation centers kept for redundancy. |
| ZooxOffice of Senator Edward J. Markey (Wayback Machine copy) | Training and requirements | Zoox tacticians must hold a valid driver's license and pass a motor vehicle records check, a background check and drug screening; their training follows California DMV Article 3.7 section 227.38(f) and SAE recommendations. |
Base: All 61 facts.
Credit: compiled by RobotTraining.jobs Research, Who Watches the Robotaxis: Remote Assistance Teams, Ratios, Shifts and Training, checked 18 Oct 2026.
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- Remote assistance
- People who answer a driverless vehicle's request for guidance in a situation it cannot resolve; most companies say they advise the vehicle rather than drive it.
- Ratio
- How many vehicles or robots one remote assistant or supervisor watches, as the company states it.
Limits of this data
- Built only from public sources. Anything never announced or reported is absent, and private-company figures are whatever the company or the press said, unaudited.
- Companies count staff differently (agents on duty at once, agents employed, vehicles per supervisor), so counts are not compared directly.
- Most facts come from what companies chose to disclose to lawmakers and the public.
Collection and classification of listings are explained on the methodology page. Freshness, completeness and consistency are tested daily in the data quality report.
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Citation
RobotTraining.jobs (2026). Who Watches the Robotaxis: Remote Assistance Teams, Ratios, Shifts and Training (live data, 24 Aug 2023 to 18 Oct 2026). https://robottraining.jobs/research/robotaxi-remote-assistance-workforce (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
BibTeX
@misc{robottrainingjobs_robotaxi_remote_assistance_workforce_live,
author = {{RobotTraining.jobs}},
title = {Who Watches the Robotaxis: Remote Assistance Teams, Ratios, Shifts and Training (live data, 24 Aug 2023 to 18 Oct 2026)},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://robottraining.jobs/research/robotaxi-remote-assistance-workforce}},
note = {Accessed 18 Oct 2026},
}Files: every figure in one CSV (a row per value) or as JSON. Each figure can also be downloaded separately. Other open data: datasets and API.
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- What Robot Training Data Costs: Buyer Prices and What Recorders Are PaidWhat does an hour of robot, teleoperation or first-person training data cost the company that buys it, and what are the people who record it or teleoperate paid?Open report
- Open Robot Training Datasets: Size, Collection Method and LicenceWhich public datasets teach robots, embodied AI, self-driving systems and drones, who released them, how many hours and episodes do they hold and how was the data collected?Open report
- Teleoperation Companies: Remote Driving and Remote Robot Operators, Pay and FundingWhich companies run remote driving or remote robot operation, where do their operators work, what are they paid, who are their customers and how are they funded?Open report
- How Much Data Robot Foundation Models Are Trained On: Hours, Teleoperation and Human VideoHow many hours and episodes of data were robot foundation models (pi0, GR00T, Gemini Robotics, Helix, GEN-0 and others) trained on, and how much of it came from people teleoperating robots or filming their own hands?Open report
- Humanoid Robots in the Real World: Units Shipped, Deployments, Customers and PricesHow many humanoid robots have been built and shipped, where are they deployed, who has ordered them and what do they cost?Open report
- Robotaxi Fleets and Cities: Fleet Sizes, Paid Rides, Safety Operators and PermitsHow many vehicles does each robotaxi service run, in which cities, how many paid rides does it give, and does a safety driver or monitor still ride along?Open report
- Drone Delivery at Scale: Deliveries, Markets, FAA Approvals and Drones per PilotHow many deliveries have Zipline, Wing, Amazon Prime Air, Manna and others made, where do they fly, under which approvals, and how many drones does one remote pilot oversee?Open report
- Apps and Programs That Pay You to Record Robot Training DataWhich apps and programs pay people to film household chores or work tasks, wear a head camera or teleoperate from home for robot training, what do they pay, who can join, which device is needed and how do they pay out?Open report
- The Hardware Behind Robot Training Data: Headsets, Capture Glasses, Grippers, Leader Arms and SuitsWhich VR headsets, first-person cameras, handheld grippers, leader-follower arms, gloves and motion-capture rigs are used to collect robot training data, what do they cost and who uses them?Open report
- Autonomous Trucking in Operation: Driverless Lanes, Miles, Observers and CustomersWhich autonomous trucks run without a driver, on which lanes, for which freight customers, how many miles have they driven, and does a safety driver or observer still ride in the cab?Open report
- China's Robot Data Collection Centres: Size, Robots, Collectors, Pay and Data ProducedWhere are China's state-backed and company-run embodied-AI data collection and training centres, when did they open, how big are they, how many robots and data collectors work there, what are collectors paid and how much data have they produced?Open report
- Pay in Robot Data and Operator Work: What Reporting Has FoundWhat have reporters and researchers documented about the pay and conditions of robot data collectors and teleoperators, and what do open roles here advertise?Open report
- Robot Training Pay Report 2026How much do robot training jobs pay, broken down by kind of work and employer?Open report