333 karma · joined August 18, 2023
Seems like there's natural skepticism here (https://electrek.co/2026/01/05/verge-unveils-370-mile-electr...), but boy, if it works... Hopefully would be a bellwether for commercial solid-state truly emerging in the next few years.
Fingers crossed this is true.
"Benchmarks were aligned to the same vehicle types, road types, and locations as where the Waymo Driver operated."
So yes, it's apples to apples... I'm sure there's some inherent variation, so maybe it's fuji to granny smith apples, but it seems there's nothing wildly off in their methodology.
I guess the Ortega equivalent statement would be "I stood on top of a giant pile of tiny people"
...Not quite as majestic, but hey, if it gets the job done...
Some will fail, for sure. But just because you can point to some examples of new cities or nations that fail doesn't mean it's not worth trying and that the impact can't be incredibly huge when it goes right (e.g. America in 1776). If you pointed to a handful of failed startups and said, "I can list 7 start ups that ended terribly, therefore you should never start a company" that's naive.
That said, just thinking about pretty buildings won't get you very far either (that said, I love me a good pretty building).
I appreciate the nuance of this post; it's not "build things = good, let's build cities" nor "build things = bad, preserve status quo at all costs"
I'd love to see more thoughtful attempts emerge in this space, and happy a gaping hole in many current attempts is being pointed out.
The company is allowed to deploy up to eight of its Jaguar I-Pace SUVs in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn through late September. Waymo’s vehicles must have a trained safety operator in the driver’s seat, with at least one hand on the wheel at all times. The company cannot pick up passengers (since it would need a license from the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission) and it has to regularly meet with and report data to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT), according to the mayor’s office."
I completely agree; we should build more damn houses. It's better for everyone except people seeking to extract rent from land values.
That said, it's going to be incredibly hard to circumvent the system of incentives we've set up for home-ownership in the US. Building codes are one thing, but baking property ownership into policy as a core investment vehicle is another... Building ARE commodities, and should not be treated as speculative assets in a healthy society.
Aside from building more (which we should do!), thinking about property ownership incentives is another side of the coin that deserves attention -- this is likely what enables the self-deception required to forget the basic laws of economics, as Thompson discusses here.
In SF, when Cruise & Waymo were both operating at the same time, there was a lot of animosity towards autonomous vehicle driving behavior (especially emergency vehicles). Both companies got lumped in together, but this seemed to stop as soon as Cruise paused operations.
It's nice that Austin will get a chance to see Waymo first, and have the ability to differentiate between the performance whenever Tesla launches. It'd be great if both performed flawlessly, but I have my doubts about one of these companies ability to act responsibly...
Zoox is just starting to offer L4 rides in Las Vegas & Sf. It's trailing Waymo by a few years, but has good design & core tech.
Tesla is taking a very different & controversial approach, and is generally viewed, by most people with knowledge of the industry (armchair experts on X aside), as far behind in core technology for L4 cars, but as having the best driver assist system. I think they're in for a rude awakening when they try to launch 'real' self-driving cars in Austin, but time will tell.
Overall, do yourself a favor, and check out Waymo videos on youtube.