Self-driving cars:
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or an AI expert) to see that the firm most likely to win the race is the one that has:
- the greatest number of real-world miles traveled as opposed to simulated (quality) kilometers driven; and
- The best engineering and product team, capable of iterating as quickly as possible on feedback loops (and thus accelerating neural network compounded learning from each human intervention).
As technology gets better and NNs continue to learn on their own at an exponential rate, (1) may become more important.
Biggest Car Fleet
There is still only one firm with a fleet of 1 million or more cars (soon to be 3-4 million or more) out in the real world, collecting billions (vs. millions for their “competitors”) of miles of real-world data for free. Nobody else comes close.
The rest of the pack, including Waymo and GM’s Cruise, are running tiny geo-fenced customer operations and/or spending $100-200K+ per engineer/employee (rough estimate) to drive around aimlessly.
They acquire a fraction of the data that Tesla’s fleet of paying customers collects in a day or two.
A Marketing Genius
‘Large-volume’ automakers cannot keep up with Tesla. Elon Musk’s entrepreneurial brain A visionary who helped create PayPal, possibly the program that influenced the twenty-first century by facilitating online payments.
PayPal’s trust in the power of the internet is crucial to the Tesla purchasing process.
There are 825,970 Tesla automobiles delivered with Autopilot hardware 2/3.
Tesla’s model has been a huge success. According to the BBC, Tesla’s sales last quarter totaled 343,000, a 40% increase over the previous year.
Out in Real World
Driverless automobiles are beginning to appear on metropolitan streets in the United States. A tech fantasy is becoming a reality, and excitement is being replaced by a sense of optimism.
As a result, expectations for Intel’s Mobileye spin-off have cooled.
The autonomous driving industry was previously estimated to be worth $50 billion. It is now anticipated to seek a valuation of approximately $30 billion.
In the meantime, Tesla has realized that it will have to wait to release its “Full Self-Driving” software because it needs permission from the government.
Advanced driver-assistance systems
regulate driving functions such as emergency braking and speed control. It is a first step toward completely autonomous vehicles.
Still, Lyft is the leader in North America when it comes to paid rides in self-driving cars, having made over 100,000 trips. They may compete in the AV transition by combining a hybrid network, a marketplace engine, and fleet management skills.
But around 830,000 Tesla vehicles in the United States are equipped with Autopilot or other driver-assistance technology. This could explain why Tesla vehicles were involved in about 70% of the reported crashes in the data released Wednesday.
Argo AI closing down
According to people familiar with the situation, Argo AI, an autonomous car firm that burst onto the scene in 2017 with a $1 billion investment, is closing down, with its elements being integrated into its two primary backers: Ford and VW.
According to various unnamed sources, Argo AI staff were told during an all-hands meeting on Wednesday that some people would receive offers from the two automakers.
It was unknown how many would be hired by Ford or Volkswagen, or which companies would benefit from Argo’s technology.
Employees were promised a severance package that included insurance and two different incentives—an annual award and a transaction bonus if the deal with Ford and VW closed.
These will be distributed to all Argo workers. Those who don’t get hired by Ford or Volkswagen will get health insurance and termination and severance pay.
Although tech layoffs could become a source for other organisations, engineers might find it a bit difficult to achieve the same income. Ford said in its earnings report for the third quarter, which came out on Wednesday, that the company made a strategic decision to focus on developing advanced driver assistance systems instead of developing technologies for autonomous vehicles that can be used in robotaxis. anytime soon.
Ford Plans
Ford said in its earnings report for the third quarter, which came out on Wednesday, that the company made a strategic decision to focus on developing advanced driver assistance systems instead of developing technologies for autonomous vehicles that can be used in robotaxis.
The company’s investment in Argo AI was written down by $2.7 billion, which was non-cash and before taxes. This led to a net loss of $827 million in the third quarter.
Argo’s struggle to attract new investors appears to have spurred that decision. Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that the company is expected to be able to commercialize autonomous vehicle technology by 2021.
But times have changed, and Ford now has a lot of potential to give time—the most valuable commodity in modern life—back to millions of customers while they’re in their vehicles.
Farley added. “It is important for Ford to make L2+ and L3 apps that improve traffic safety that are unique and stand out.”
Closing thoughts
Every year, firms working on self-driving cars in California must file a report with the state detailing the number of kilometers driven and disengagements (how many times the human behind the wheel had to take over).
Waymo and Cruise are two companies that have recently complained about the disengagement data point, saying that it doesn’t show the full power of their systems. Miles aren’t much of an indicator, either, because these drives take place in certain places.
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