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Are Autonomous Vehicles Finally Here? Buckle up!

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, Saswat Panigrahi. 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?! Topics Covered: 00:00 - A first look at Waymo 02:06 - 5 levels of autonomy 04:20 - Technology challenges 06:55 - The technology behind Waymo 11:58 - LiDAR vs video debate 16:21 - How Waymo differentiates 19:01 - Technological unlocks on the horizon 21:26 - The role of AI in autonomous vehicles 24:17 - How Waymo views safety 31:25 - Collaborating with regulators 37:12 - Learnings from the first 2m miles 39:48 - Driving user retention 44:16 - Waymo’s expansion strategy 47:55 - Changing regulation 48:42 - Societal unlocks enabled by autonomy 53:47 - Will self-driving cars replace humans? 54:26 - Closing thoughts Resources: Check out Waymo: https://waymo.com/ Check out Waymo’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Waymo Find Saswat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/saswat101 Check out a16z's 8-part series on the autonomous vehicle ecosystem: https://a16z.com/2018/02/03/autonomy-ecosystem-frank-chen-summit/ Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Saswat PanigrahiguestSteph Smithhost

Jun 26, 20231h 0mWatch on YouTube ↗

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EPISODE INFO

Released: June 26, 2023
Duration: 1h 0m
Channel: a16z
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

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, Saswat Panigrahi. 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?! Topics Covered: 00:00 - A first look at Waymo 02:06 - 5 levels of autonomy 04:20 - Technology challenges 06:55 - The technology behind Waymo 11:58 - LiDAR vs video debate 16:21 - How Waymo differentiates 19:01 - Technological unlocks on the horizon 21:26 - The role of AI in autonomous vehicles 24:17 - How Waymo views safety 31:25 - Collaborating with regulators 37:12 - Learnings from the first 2m miles 39:48 - Driving user retention 44:16 - Waymo’s expansion strategy 47:55 - Changing regulation 48:42 - Societal unlocks enabled by autonomy 53:47 - Will self-driving cars replace humans? 54:26 - Closing thoughts Resources: Check out Waymo: https://waymo.com/ Check out Waymo’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Waymo Find Saswat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/saswat101 Check out a16z's 8-part series on the autonomous vehicle ecosystem: https://a16z.com/2018/02/03/autonomy-ecosystem-frank-chen-summit/ Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

SPEAKERS

Saswat Panigrahi
guest
Chief Product Officer at Waymo, discussing Level 4 autonomous driving and Waymo’s technical and product stack.
Steph Smith
host
a16z podcast host/interviewer leading the ride-along conversation and asking questions about AVs.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Saswat Panigrahi and Steph Smith, Are Autonomous Vehicles Finally Here? Buckle up! explores riding Waymo's Driverless Car Through San Francisco With Its Product Chief Saswat Panigrahi explains that Waymo operates at level 4 autonomy, with no human expected to take over, and describes how that differs greatly from levels 2 and 3.

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