“As of February 17, 2026, Waymo has approximately 70 remote assistance agents on duty worldwide at any given time…

The fact that 70 agents can cover 3,000 vehicles tells you the system is handling the vast majority of driving situations on its own, without requesting human input. Anyone still arguing that these are “just remote-controlled cars” now has hard data to contend with.

To appreciate how far ahead this puts Waymo, it is worth benchmarking against other significant players. In China, regulators long mandated a ratio of roughly 1:3, one remote safety operator for every three vehicles on the road, driven by traffic safety concerns and the politically sensitive issue of potential job losses among millions of traditional taxi drivers. That requirement has since loosened, and Chinese companies are pushing their ratios higher.

Pony.ai disclosed during its Q1 2025 earnings call that it had reached a 1:20 ratio for remote operators, with a stated goal of reaching 1:30 by end of 2025…

Waymo, at 1:43 today, is already operating near a level that most Chinese competitors are targeting as a future aspiration. That gap matters for unit economics, and it matters for the investment thesis around autonomous ride-hailing more broadly.”

From The AV Market Strategist.