The Transparency Crisis in the Autonomous Driving Industry： Why It's the Next Fl

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Is Remote Assistance a Technological “Safety Net” or a Business Model “Fig Leaf”?

The answer is clear: it is both. Remote assistance is essentially a transitional solution for autonomous systems when facing long-tail edge cases, but it has evolved from a temporary tool into an indispensable pillar of commercialization. The problem is that when the thickness and load-bearing capacity of this pillar become trade secrets, the public and regulators have no way to judge how “autonomous” the “self-driving” vehicles on the road truly are.

According to data from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Waymo logged over 3 million miles of “fully driverless” travel in San Francisco in 2025, but the number of “remote assistance requests” during that period has never been disclosed. Industry experts estimate that in complex urban environments, there could be several to dozens of situations requiring human intervention per thousand miles. This information asymmetry creates a dangerous perception gap: a huge chasm exists between the public’s belief in “AI taking full responsibility” and the reality of “human-machine hybrid decision-making.”

Tech Policy on SoloSoft

The Transparency Crisis in the Autonomous Driving Industry： Why It's the Next Fl

Is Remote Assistance a Technological “Safety Net” or a Business Model “Fig Leaf”?