Posted on 02/13/2026 9:17:47 AM PST by DFG
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.
Waymo and DoorDash said in a joint statement to CNBC that they are always looking for new and flexible ways for DoorDash deliverers to earn money, adding that future Waymo vehicles will have automated door closures. Waymo didn’t say when that capability will arrive.
Waymo’s reliance on people for simple tasks underscores how even the most advanced autonomous technologies still require costly human intervention for some basic operations. Valued at $126 billion in a recent financing round, Waymo is central to Alphabet’s Other Bets, which are targeted at “using technology to try to solve big problems that affect a wide variety of industries, including transportation and health technology,” according to the company’s financial filings.
In Alphabet’s annual filing last week, the company said the Other Bets segment recorded an operating loss last year of $7.5 billion, which included a $2.1 billion stock-based compensation charge at Waymo.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
“Why doesnt a regular taxi company just do both?”
Because dumb people will do it for less with their own cars, losing big money over time to wear and tear.
Acme Door-Closer coming soon!
WHEN I WAS A KID-—THE SCREEN DOORS ON THE HOUSE CLOSED THEMSELVES WITH A SPRING
IS THAT TOO LOW TECH?
Seems like a real world what-if scenario wasn’t accounted for.“
Yep, it is almost impossible to plan for the 10% a-hole part of the population. It figures some of them would fail to simply close the car door causing the system to break.
It seems like the car would know when it reached its destination. Just have the car announce as the door opens: “A hundred-dollar fine will be assessed for leaving the door open.”
Maybe put weight sensors in the seats?
I suspect NOT closing doors will become an epidemic for these cars.
I could see problems with auto closing of doors. Closing people in. Closing people out. Trapping things or people in the attempt…
Getting used for whorehouses - cheaper than hourly motels
Not closing the door isnt even necessarily a-hole territory. Vandalism, deliberately breaking stuff, excreting bodily fluids/solids, burning stuff, busting windows, tipping over, slashing a tire, etc... and then not even from the users, but others just around in the city where the cars are...
I think many, many, what-ifs aren’t accounted for. They assumed too many positive things about the environment that shouldn’t just simply be assumed.
Well everything you said certainly is a-hole territory. They are the ones who screw things up for everyone else and they always will.
Taxis in Japan have had auto open/close doors SINCE THE 1960s.
Gee, Waymo is 75 years behind.
Foolproof ain’t idiot proof!
My favorite version of that is “Nothing is foolproof because fools are so ingenious”.
You don’t have to lock the doors, and before you close them you can announce the closing. Also I’m sure they can put sensors in to detect whether a person is inside.
“They assumed too many positive things about the environment that shouldn’t just simply be assumed.”
That’s liberalism in a nutshell.
Pretty much all isms...
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