On self driving, Waymo is playing chess while Tesla plays checkers

Timothy B. Lee · 21 May 2024 · understandingai.org ↗

3 korrents from this piece

Timothy B. Lee did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Tesla has not found a better route to driverless cars; it is simply years behind, working on problems the leader solved long ago.

Their wordsSo Tesla hasn’t found a different, better way to bring driverless technology to market. Waymo is just so far ahead that it’s dealing with challenges Tesla hasn’t started thinking about.

Interesting
Our reading
A huge fleet collecting driving data is not a silver bullet for self-driving, because the data arrives unlabelled.

Their wordsBut while access to more data is certainly helpful, it’s not a magic bullet. One issue is that the data Tesla collects is unlabeled.

Interesting
Our reading
A robotaxi that still needs remote human help loses the cost advantage that motivated it, which pushes out when it can scale.

Their wordsIf Waymo vehicles were constantly asking for remote guidance, Waymo might need to hire so many remote operators that it negates the cost savings that come from not needing a driver.

Interesting