A safety researcher who lives in San Francisco found an unreleased function in Waymo’s app that enables clients to tip for his or her robotaxi rides.
However earlier than you get indignant about grasping tech corporations suckering clients into blithely handing their hard-earned money over to robots, it seems that the brand new perform is only a roundabout strategy to solicit charity donations. Wong posted one other screenshot by which clients are requested to pick out a charity from a dropdown menu.
Wong instructed The Verge that she found the brand new function whereas poking round inside Waymo’s Android app and “reverse engineering it.” She theorizes that it could be a healthful prank, maybe preparing for April Fools Day.
“It’s for charity — so I feel it’s nice!” she added. “Possibly after Apr 1, they may contemplate incorporating the charity function completely, like rounding up for donation.”
Others noticed ulterior motives, with one X consumer noting that Waymo seemingly receives tax breaks from the federal government for gathering a certain quantity of charitable donations. Some questioned whether or not asking for a “tip” for a self-driving automotive would backfire and forged a unfavourable gentle on Waymo. In any case, eliminating the necessity to tip a human driver has all the time been among the many promoting factors for robotaxis.
A spokesperson for Waymo didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.