Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit Waymo confirmed on Thursday a pilot program in Atlanta, where it pays food delivery couriers to close doors left ajar on its vehicles. The company stated that when a Waymo car door in the area is not fully shut, DoorDash drivers receive a notification, allowing the vehicle to quickly return to service. Waymo's vehicles operate without a human driver onboard. However, if an exiting passenger fails to close the door, the car remains immobilized until someone shuts it. To address this task, Waymo is utilizing gig economy workers from companies like DoorDash. This confirmation followed a Reddit post showing an Atlanta-based DoorDash driver was offered $11.25 to close the door of a nearby Waymo vehicle. In a joint statement to media, Waymo and DoorDash said they are continually exploring new, flexible earning opportunities for DoorDash delivery personnel, adding that future Waymo vehicle models will feature automatic door-closing functionality. Waymo did not specify a timeline for the rollout of this feature. Waymo's reliance on humans for simple tasks highlights that even the most advanced autonomous driving technology still requires costly human intervention for certain basic operations. In a recent funding round, Waymo was valued at $126 billion. According to Alphabet's financial reports, Waymo is a core part of its "Other Bets" segment, which aims to "use technology to attempt to solve significant challenges affecting a wide range of industries, including transportation and health technology." In Alphabet's annual report filed last week, the company reported an operating loss of $7.5 billion for its "Other Bets" segment last year, which included $2.1 billion in stock-based compensation expenses attributable to Waymo. Beyond DoorDash, Waymo also compensates users of the independent roadside assistance service Honk to close doors on its driverless taxis. Honk users, who perform maintenance for Waymo vehicles, can earn up to $24 for closing a car door in Los Angeles. On Thursday, as Waymo works to expand its leading position in the United States, the company began deploying its next-generation driverless taxis. Waymo currently offers fully autonomous taxi services in six U.S. markets and plans to expand to more cities this year.