Self-driving cars have been on the horizon for quite some time…
But they might actually be here.
We got to ride around in one all over San Francisco with Waymo’s Chief Product Officer.
We discussed so much, including the five levels of autonomy, the infamous LIDAR vs video debate, regulation, UX, and the role of AI in fine-tuning these models. But most importantly, if autonomy is here… now what?!
00:00 – Introduction
03:20 – A first look at Waymo
05:21 – 5 levels of autonomy
09:45 – Technology challenges
14:32 – LiDAR vs video debate
18:19 – How Waymo differentiates
19:01 – Technological unlocks on the horizon
20:39 – The role of AI in autonomous vehicles
25:37 – How Waymo views safety
32:05 – Collaborating with regulators
37:26 – Learnings from the first 2m miles
39:45 – Driving user retention
43:47 – Waymo’s expansion strategy
47:00 – Changing regulation
47:41 – Societal unlocks enabled by autonomy
52:21 – Will self-driving cars replace humans?
52:58 – Closing thoughts
The a16z Podcast discusses the most important ideas within technology with the people building it. Each episode aims to put listeners ahead of the curve, covering topics like AI, energy, genomics, space, and more.