Cab drivers in NYC have called on the New York State Governor, Kathy Hochul, to stop Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo Robotaxis from expanding into the city.
‘Robots Cannot Replace Human Instinct,' Says NYSFTD
The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers called on Hochul to halt Waymo's testing operations in NYC outside of the governor's office, NY Daily News reported on Monday.
"Robots cannot replace human instinct, compassion or accountability," NYSFTD President Steven Rivera said in a statement, with the organization saying that the Robotaxis were a threat to the livelihoods of NYC cab drivers.
However, a spokesperson for the governor's office cited in the report said the authorities were ensuring the safety of autonomous vehicles before testing.
"New York State will continue to work with New York City officials to ensure the safety of any testing program," the spokesperson said.
Waymo, Tesla target NYC Expansion
The news comes as Waymo recently announced that it had successfully earned the permit to run testing of its vehicles in NYC with the presence of a safety driver on board.
"Waymo is taking the next, first of its kind step toward bringing fully autonomous rides to New Yorkers!" the company shared in an announcement on Friday.
This comes a few days after Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) posted a job listing on its official website, offering over $33/hr for operators to help with the Robotaxi testing in New York City.
Uber Says Customers Ditching Humans, Dara Khosrowshahi Questions Tesla's Approach
Interestingly, Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) recently shared that customers in Atlanta were ditching human drivers in favor of Waymo autonomous vehicles on its platform.
Meanwhile, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi questioned Tesla's camera-based approach to self-driving cars, saying that it would be very difficult to achieve autonomy with just cameras.
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