Overview
- At a Senate Commerce hearing, Waymo and Tesla urged a single federal framework for autonomous vehicles and said they would accept liability when their systems are at fault.
- Lawmakers cited ongoing federal probes into Waymo after repeated passes of stopped school buses in Austin and a recent low‑speed collision with a child in Santa Monica.
- Waymo faced scrutiny for planning to deploy Chinese‑made Zeekr vehicles; the company said those cars arrive stripped of software and that its autonomy stack is installed in the U.S. with no external data sharing.
- Senators criticized Waymo’s use of overseas remote assistance operators, including in the Philippines; the company said agents only provide guidance, not remote driving, and the vehicle remains in control.
- Prospects for legislation remain uncertain despite bipartisan interest, with some senators eyeing the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act as a possible vehicle, while Waymo separately pressed Massachusetts to legalize driverless service for planned Boston operations.