Despite fears of drivers losing their jobs to robotaxis, Waymo’s boss says the company will still need humans to fill technician and operator roles

Advanced technology isn’t just automating tasks in the white collar world—AI agents and robots are flipping burgers, stocking warehouses, and even doing household chores. Driverless taxis have also entered the mainstream, despite job loss fears from gig workers. But the leader of autonomous vehicle (AV) business Waymo insists the tech isn’t taking human work. 

“Now that we’ve been in a few markets for a few years, it’s great to be able to see that we haven’t eliminated jobs in those markets,” Waymo’s co-CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, recently told The New York Times.

The $126 billion behemoth of industry, which started out as Google’s self-driving car project, has understandably raised eyebrows from human drivers. It’s the largest AV company in the U.S., serving ...