- Waymo is paying gig workers from companies like DoorDash and Honk to help close the doors of its robotaxis.
- When a rider leaves a vehicle’s door ajar, it prevents the car from departing until a human closes it.
- Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet, plans to expand into several new U.S. cities this year.
Waymo’s cars are driven without humans. But when a departing passenger leaves a door open, the car won’t move until a person closes it.
For that task, Waymo is turning to gig workers from companies like DoorDash
.
The Alphabet
-owned self-driving car company confirmed on Thursday that it’s running a pilot in Atlanta to compensate delivery drivers for closing Waymo doors that are left ajar. DoorDash drivers are notified when a Waymo in the area has an open door so the vehicles can quickly get back on the road, the company said.
That acknowledgement came after a Reddit post showed a DoorDash driver in Atlanta was offered $11.25 to close the door of a nearby Waymo.