Waymo solicits DoorDash workers to close cars’ doors so they can drive away

Waymo autonomous cars can’t move if a door is left open, so the company is getting DoorDash gig workers to come and close doors.

A Reddit post on Tuesday in a group for these DoorDash workers showed a job that a driver could pick up — a guaranteed $6.25 plus $5 for going and closing the door of a Waymo car in Atlanta.

On Thursday, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, and DoorDash jointly said in a statement that “in the rare event a vehicle door is left ajar, preventing the car from departing, nearby Dashers are notified, allowing Waymo to get its vehicles back on the road quickly,” according to Bloomberg.

The companies did not specify whether the door-closing workers are paid by Waymo or by DoorDash as part of the pilot program.

Waymo told CNBC that its future autonomous cars will have automatically closing doors, though the company didn’t say when that will happen.

The Atlanta pilot is not the only instance where Waymo solicits human help to close the doors of its robotaxis.

In Los Angeles, the company works with the Honk app, which offers roadside assistance and towing, to get drivers to come and close car doors as well, according to TechCrunch.