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You do realise that Google didn't invent self driving cars and that they aren't even leading the industry.

Mercedes Benz demoed the technology nearly 20 years ago and will be shipping cars along with Audi, Volvo etc en masse over the coming years. In fact every single notable car manufacturer has had their own program in place for decades.

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How do we know who is leading the industry if the industry doesn't really exist right now?

Firstly, the car companies have been shipping for the last few years many of the key systems of an autonomous car. Even some of the cheapest cars can self park and auto brake in the event of an impending collision. Adding more sensors and better control systems builds on this.

Secondly, nobody knows who is leading the industry. But we know it's not Google since all of the car manufacturers have their own programs in fairly advanced stages. And due to the consolidated nature of the industry key technologies are shared within the groups. So if Google has no one interested in their technologies and they don't make cars then how will they ever lead anything ?

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