Steve Miller, SVP Innovation @ Hub International, explains one of the least understood but most critical aspects of autonomous vehicles: insurance. From the earliest days of self-driving startups like Drive.ai to today’s robotaxi deployments, Steve explains how insurers evaluate risk, liability, safety cases, software updates, and autonomous driving systems. Also: Tesla, Waymo, ADAS, AV legislation, trucking, fraud prevention, and the future economics of self-driving cars.
The gang discuss Alex’s new Tesla solar install, Waymo ops challenges, and Uber’s evolving self-driving strategy. Also, Ed has issues with you-know-whose robotaxi rollout in Austin. Kirsten and Alex then bring it back to an odd Waymo/Uber flareup, whilst Ed pouts.
Did Kirsten enjoy her Lucid Gravity? What’s the Citroen CX of EVs? How’s Waymo Ops doing? Do the CA AV reporting rules make sense? Did Alex enjoy his friend’s use of FSD on a HW 2.5 Model S? Ed & Alex keep it feisty, and Kirsten tries to keep them under control.
Kirsten, Ed & Alex sit down with Tiya Gordon, co-founder and COO of It’s Electric, to explore how curbside EV charging can unlock electric vehicle adoption in dense cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. We discuss why most public EV chargers fail, how It’s Electric uses spare building power to create neighborhood charging without expensive utility trenching, and why better urban charging infrastructure could be essential for the future of EVs, rideshare fleets, and robotaxis.
In this episode of Autonocast, Alex Roy, Kirsten Korosec, and Ed Niedermeyer talk with Foxglove founder Adrian Macneil about how lessons from Cruise and the autonomous vehicle boom are now fueling a broader robotics revolution. Macneil explains why Foxglove is building the infrastructure layer for “physical AI,” helping robotics companies capture and learn from real-world machine data, and why today may be the best moment yet to launch a robotics startup.
What’s the optimal form factor for a delivery bot, and why? Doordash VP of Autonomy Ashu Rege joins us to talk BTS @ DoorDash labs, why build rather than buy, why he left robotaxis to work on delivery, and why he drives an old Tesla. Also, Alex admires Ashu’s taste in interior design.
Fresh off a $1B Series C, Waabi Founder/CEO Raquel Urtasun joins us to answer key questions: Is $1B enough to develop both robotaxis and autonomous trucks? Who is building Waabi's robotaxi vehicle? What's behind Waabi's claim of extraordinary capital efficiency? And what can Waabi do that others can't?
This week we break down Wayve’s massive $1.2 billion round, Uber’s plan to become the global operations layer for autonomy, followed by a punchy debate over remote ops, including congressional scrutiny of Waymo’s overseas remote assistants, and what actually counts as “driving” in an autonomous system. Also, Ed has lots to say about NVIDIA investments.
Nexar CEO Zach Greenberger joins Alex, Kirsten and Ed to explain why Autonomous Vehicles need real world data, how Nexar built one of the world’s largest driving datasets, the Uber Labs announcement, and much, much more. Also, the hosts critique each other’s fashion choices.
Alex recounts his latest cross-country Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) attempt and explains why “zero-disengagement” claims often hide major differences in what counts as an intervention—plus an unforgettable moment where the car nearly strands a co-driver at a sub-zero truck stop. Kirsten, Ed & Alex then dig into Tesla’s decision to end Model S and Model X production, the company’s escalating bet on Optimus humanoid robots, and growing signals of deeper alignment with xAI (and even potential mega-merger vibes with SpaceX). Plus the latest Waymo controversy after a robotaxi struck a child in Santa Monica, the investigations and media narrative battle, and what these incidents mean for public trust in autonomous vehicles.
Alex has a shocker for Ed, and the gang debriefs on CES and the mobility party of the year. Plus, a riff on auto shows and our experience in the Motional robotaxi in Vegas.
David Moss joins Alex Roy and Ed Niedermeyer to discuss his zero intervention coast-to-coast Tesla FSD drive. Alex is excited. Ed less so, until the end.
Avery Ash, CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) joins to discuss what we got right & wrong 12 months ago, and weighs in with predictions for 2026. Also, CES party updates, and a special shout-out to an old friend.
As Waymo scales, so do the edge cases the world's biggest robotaxi fleet will encounter. Also, Ed wants to talk about Tesla, Alex doesn't, and Kirsten keeps it cool.
Sleepy safety drivers, scaling robotaxis, Alex thanks the Autonocast party sponsors, Ed thanks Elon for giving him something to complain about, and Kirsten thanks us for letting her be the adult in the room.
When is self-driving not self-driving? How do the words we use for autonomous vehicles affect safety? Professor Bryant Walker Smith talks about how the SAE levels came to be, how he hopes to improve them, and his latest paper "Self-Driving Means Self-Driving."
How to cut through the BS of AI hype? What is the optimal integration of AI into work? What is the best application of AI in human driven vehicles? MIT Research Scientist Bryan Reimer is one of the Top 3 AI BS sniffers on earth, and alone in having a realistic vision of what AI can actually do for us. On this episode, Reimer discusses his new book: How To Make AI Useful.
Will Rivian bicycle spinoff Also become the iPhone/Tesla Model S of bikes? Why is it called Also? How much was the branding agency paid? Why did a Tesla see ghosts in a cemetery? How will Tesla handle all the HW3 owners whose cars may never be driverless? Does Ed's BMW "Clownshoe" ZM3 redeem him?
Should Waymo pranksters be permabanned from the service? Will Tesla survive Ed's door handle obsession? What makes Kirsten a real journalist? Will Alex explain how to get into our 2026 CES party? Also, why AV operations will be more important than the tech itself...
Alex gets pulled over for the first time in 15 years, Ed is more interested in the wild Silicon Valley Sperm Racing story, and Kirsten brings it back around to Waymo's rainy adventures in Arizona. Will innovation win? Or will Ed drag the show down again?
What does an ex-Tesla, VW, and Argo AI executive do next? Take the lessons of autonomy to railroads. Futurail CEO/co-founder Alex Haag explains why rail has not yet been fully automated, how AV technology can mitigate climate change, and how Futurail's hardware/software stack unlocks value and efficiency in the world's oldest modern transportation vertical. Also, Alex has some words about his Tesla Model S issues.
Regent CEO Billy Thalheimer explains why the only thing more awesome than a Lun-Class Ekranoplan is a wing-in-ground-effect vehicle that actually WORKS, with a business model to match. The cold war's coolest "plane" is back, this time with electric propulsion, flight envelope protections, airfoils, and both civilian and military applications. Can Kirsten keep Alex calm as he geeks out on his Cold War Soviet technology obsession?
Alex reviews The Naked Gun's depiction of self-driving cars, Ed puts on his big boy shoes to explain Tesla's big loss in court, and Kirsten rolls her eyes (again) as she brings the show back to Earth. Also, a little Zoox.
How does a multi-billion dollar self-driving startup pivot from custom autonomous delivery vehicles to L4 software licensing? Nuro co-founder/President Dave Ferguson explains their new plan, the partnership with Lucid and Uber, and why deploying the first-ever luxury robotaxi makes sense. Also, Alex Roy asks an insane question.
Former Waymo self-driving truck lead and Anki co-founder Boris Sofman joins The Autonocast to talk about his new company, Bedrock Robotics, and why autonomous construction equipment might be the most important, least-hyped application of AV tech yet. Kirsten and Alex dig into why he left the public-road race, what makes construction sites a uniquely promising environment for autonomy, and how lessons from Waymo and Anki are shaping his approach to this new frontier.
Austin Texas was already one of the hot spots of AV activity, even before Tesla's robotaxi deployment ratched up the hype. With Ed back from a week on the ground, and Alex and Kirsten watching events there closely, the gang has a lot to discuss this week.
The summer heat is getting to the gang, as they discuss Tesla's attempt to go driverless in Austin and engage in the burning Waymo discourse that has been roiling the internet.
After a brief update about their old, unreliable cars, the gang dives into the latest effort to pre-empt local regulation of AVs, and its many implications.
Spring has sprung, and the AV sector is full of happenings. From Sterling Anderson's surprise move from Aurora to GM, to a series of recalls at Waymo and Zoox, the gang discusses the AV sector's busy spring.
This week: Aurora goes driverless, Waymo hooks up with Toyota, Uber hooks up with everyone, and the gang gathers to piece together what it all means.
Before co-founding the medium duty electric truck startup Harbinger, John Harris lived through some of the wildest highs and lows of the post-Tesla EV startup bubble. On this week's episode, he explains how lessons learned from those experiences shaped Harbinger, why medium-duty trucks are so ripe for electrification, how tariffs are creating new challenges, and much more.
The gang comes together to chat about Wayve's deal with Nissan, Kodiak's decision to SPAC, China's ban on "self-driving" terminology — and of course Tesla. Plus, Alex and Kirsten commiserate on their increasingly expensive classic cars.
Reilly Brennan, the godfather of the Autonocast and Trucks VC general partner, returns to the pod for a wide-ranging discussion on the business of robotaxis, how AVs have evolved in the past decade, his latest fund, and some surprising insights into Tesla.
Forterra has been around the defense and driving automation sectors for years, under names like Robotic Research. Now the firm's VP of Commercial Growth Gabe Sganga joins the show to explain Forterra's new name, new ambitions, and work bringing together new opportunities in defense and logistics.
Kirsten rides Waymos in Austin, Alex valet parks a Citroen, and Ed stops protesting Tesla for long enough to find Alex's newest eBike.
Raquel Urtasun came to the AV sector from academia, first leading research for Uber's Advanced Technology Group, and for the last four years with her own startup Waabi. She joins the show to cast light on Waabi's unique approach to Level 4 trucking, some of the differences between so-called "AV 2.0" approaches, and where AI breakthroughs are poised to change AV development.
With Kirsten traveling for work, Ed and Alex get back to the topic that they've been tussling over since this podcast began: Tesla and Elon Musk. Of course, that topic has evolved considerably lately, so buckle up.
Alex shares the struggle of fixing a vintage Citroen SM and what it means for software defined vehicles, the whole gang discusses the unique vehicles in their garages, and sneak in a little discussion of BYD's God's Eye news, just so the whole episode isn't one big digression.
Aircraft design may be a mature space, but Mark Groden sees the entire control scheme for aircraft as an opportunity for transformative change, from the cockpit to the electronic architecture to actuators. He joins the gang to explain Skyryse's work on this opportunity, and where it's taking aviation.
Ed and Kirsten kick off the latest episode with a discussion of Tesla's latest earnings report, and are joined by Alex as the conversation turns to a pair of stories out of San Francisco, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's recent comments about AV safety in Davos.
With another CES in the books, the gang gathers to discuss the highs and lows of the show, the annual Autonocast CES party, and the long-overdue debut of the Autonocast merch shop. Surf over to autonocast dot com and click on the store link to buy shirts, mugs, stickers and support the show.
After years of intense effort and turmoil, Zoox is nearing the finish line in its pioneering ground-up robotaxi, possibly the most ambitiously novel vehicle of our time. Ed and Kirsten join Zoox CTO Jesse Levinson for a ride along the famous Las Vegas strip, taking in and discussing this unique new autonomous experience.
With the annual CES party looming, it's time once again for the gang to review last year's predictions and try to make a few about 2025. But first, the gang discusses Alex's latest cross-country exploits.
General Motors has pulled the plug on Cruise, one of the Level 4 AV developers who defined the space... for better and worse. The gang gathers to discuss GM's decision, Cruise's history, and broader lessons about the last decade of driving automation development.
The gang gathers around the metaphorical festive table to discuss such hot-button issues as the complicated future of EVs and AVs under a new Trump administration and the Jaguar rebrand.
With some automakers moving away from touchscreens and back toward physical controls, and others pushing forward toward ever more minimalist user interfaces, the debate around controls in cars has never been more interesting. To help provide some historical context for this fascinating issue, Alex and Ed are joined by Dr Rachel Plotnick, the author of "Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing."
Xiaodi Hou was one of the earlier guests on the Autonocast, when he joined to discuss the autonomous trucking company TuSimple that he founded and helped run. He returns to the show to reflect on the tumultuous journey that saw him ousted from TuSimple and then starting a new, leaner autonomous truck company called Bot Auto. His lessons learned provide a unique glimpse of the evolving driving automation landscape.
With Kirsten wrapped up in the Disrupt event, Alex and Ed get together to discuss the thrills and chills of this fall's mobility tech news. From eBikes to the first driverless cannonball race, from Waymo and Wayve to Tesla's narrative command, this spooky discussion is sure to provoke and inspire.
George Hotz hasn't won self-driving yet, but Cannonballer Jay Roberts just used a Comma Three and a Toyota Pruis to shatter Alex Roy's 55 hour Autopilot record in 43 hours, 18 minutes. What's the difference between a semi-automated and driverless Cannonball record? Is the future of the Cannonball Run human-driven or autonomous? Is Comma AI's technology better than Tesla's Full Self-Driving? What did the police think? Why are records being shattered in every category this year? Will Alex go again? All this and more on one of our most technology-packed episodes of all time!
Alex and Ed go to war over the Tesla Cybercab reveal, the CyberBus, and Elon Musk's concept of a plan. Can Joel Johnson, polymath and automotive CEO whisperer, bring sanity back to the show in Kirsten's absence?
The immense potential of micromobility is matched only by the challenges of building profitable brands, and Chris Nolte has experienced them firsthand. Along with cofounder Justin Kosmides, Nolte is now building Bloom into a platform that leverages their collective experience into efficiencies to give micromobility startups a fighting edge, and he joins this week's episode to explain how.
The Cannonball Run goes solar as Will Jones explains how he, Kyle Samluk and Danny Ezzo built a race car from scratch to make science fiction racing fact. Was it safe? Was it legal? Did they get pulled over? Was it air conditioned? What about bathroom stops? Will Alex Roy try to break their record?
What could go wrong when Alex gets a new Tesla? Did Elon intervene to help him? Why didn't Alex choose something else? What will Ed say? Can Kirsten keep the peace? How long before the gang settles down to get to the news? All this and much, much more on one of the feistiest Autonocast episodes in a long time.
Ever since 2016, when the first Autopilot crashes were reported, Tesla has been claiming that its Level 2 ADAS is safer than a human driver. Noah Goodall is a traffic safety researcher who has published some of the only peer-reviewed work on Tesla's safety claims, and he joins the show to discuss his work on this and other important road safety topics.
It's been more than a year since we spoke with Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics and Google Self-Driving Car program veteran, and a lot has changed in the world of autonomous trucking since then. Don joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion of the state of play in self-driving trucks, and how Kodiak has thrived through sectorwide challenges.
It's a make or break summer for robotaxis, as GM cancels Cruise's Origin, Waymo's new Zeekr-supplied model hits the streets, and Tesla delays the reveal of its alleged robotaxi. Alex, Kirsten and Ed gather to digest all the latest news in the latest discussion episode, joined discreetly at times by friend of the show former Rivian strategy boss Patrick Hunt.
After many discussions about the divide between Level 4 robotaxis/trucks and "AI first" general solutions for automotive use cases, The Autonocast finally welcomes one of the leaders in the latter approach to the show. Alex Kendall is the founder and CEO of the UK-based startup Wayve, which just raised a billion dollars to continue developing its unique approach to driving automation. He joins the gang to discuss Wayve's technology, go to market strategy, safety philosophy, and much more.
Ted Ryan spent more than 20 years as an archivist for Coca-Cola, and is currently the brand manager for archives and heritage at Ford, giving him unique insights into the history of fueling in the US. With EV charging emerging as one of the major challenges to adoption, the gang sat down with Ted to find out what lessons we might learn from history. Turns out there are a lot, you don't want to miss this episode!
With Kirsten taking a well-deserved vacation, Alex and Ed run wild, discussing a wide variety of recent news. From Ed's recent OpEd on Tesla in the Washington Post to GM's new cash injection into Cruise, and from "AI first" automated trucking company Waabi's new funding round to questions around transparency in China's AV development, and much more, the lads have their hands full this week.
Former fighter pilot and NHTSA consultant, now professor at George Mason University, the one and only Missy Cummings returns to The Autonocast to discuss the latest issues in driver assistance and autonomous driving safety, including her work at the auto safety regulator.
From Elon Musk's decision to fire the entire Supercharging team as part of Tesla's "pivot to self-driving," to recent fundraising rounds by Motional and Wayve, the entire mobility tech space is caught between the hard work of growing up and doubling down on the AI hype fundraising game. Not everyone can be choosing wisely.
Electrification and automation collide in this week's episode, as the gang sits down with Crijn Bouman, EV charging veteran and founder of the automated charger company ROCSYS. From the early days of EV charging, to robotaxi service strategies, to the rise of the North American Charging Standard, this conversation spans a wide variety of fascinating topics.
With Tesla's core EV business losing all growth momentum, Elon Musk once again appears to be gambling the most valuable automaker in the world on a driving automation tech play that is clearly not viable. The gang chews on this meaty topic, after a round of AV appetizers featuring the return of Cruise and the death of Ghost.
These are rough times for the once-hot world of EV startups, as the hype fades and reality sets in. On this week's episode the gang sifts through the rubble, finding a little good news (Lucid raised cash!) but a lot of challenges for everyone from Fisker to Tesla.
Incubated inside Google's X project and now deploying in the real world, Wing is an aerial drone delivery company with some interesting parallels to another of Alphabet's "other bets" the gang regularly discuses: Waymo. But, as CEO Adam Woodworth explains, Wing also provides a very different look at how one engineers automated mobility services at a system level, focused more on creating "lego pieces" than specific vehicles. He joins the show to explain Wing's strategy, the unique challenges it faces, and lessons learned along the way.
For our 300th episode, the gang sorts through the highs and lows of some of the recent mobility tech news. Rivian's reveal of two new forthcoming models shows that there's still a lot of excitement in EVs, even as tough challenges remain on the path to financial viability. Meanwhile, the decade-long $10 billion Apple Car saga is officially over, taking the dream of a self-driving car with it, but Waymo's robotaxi service continues to expand proving driving automation is still very real.
Though the flood of EV startups may have receded, the Volkswagen-backed Scout electric truck and SUV startup is as bullish about the opportunity to start a new automaker as ever. Scout CEO Scott Keogh joins the show to explain the opportunity Scout is pursuing, and how the firm plans to stand out in a competitive EV market and rebuild an iconic American brand.
Ed's recent misadventure renting an electric car prompts the gang to share similar experiences, and consider what they might mean for EV adoption. Plus: discussion of Ford's new affordable EV skunkworks, Cruise's CPUC penalty hearing and Waymo's cyclist collision in San Francisco.
After another epic CES party, The Autonocats nurse their hangovers and discuss the show's big trends and buzzwords. Join the first discussion episode of 2024, as the gang puzzles through mysteries like why CES is less consumer-facing than ever, what a "software defined vehicle" is, and why Large Language Models are so promising and yet so disappointing in the automotive space.
With another year coming to a close and another world famous Autonocast CES Party looming, the gang gathers for the annual tradition of exchanging predictions about mobility tech in the new year. Grab a holiday beverage, pull out your crystal ball and enjoy an Autonocast tradition like no other.
With all the furor over the state of electric vehicle sales in the US, Ed and Kirsten called on Tyson Jominy, VP of data and analytics for JD Power, to find out what exactly is happening with the US auto market. The resulting conversation covers the state of EV sales, the role of charging, the profits that are paying for it all, the not-unrelated disappearance of affordable cars, and more.
With Cruise founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigning, the gang gathers to hash out what it means for the Level 4 robotaxi company, its corporate parent General Motors, and the sector at large.
Can you name an EV maker with rock-solid profits and consistent self-funded growth that has never taken a dollar of VC investment? If you've never heard of Lectric eBikes you're probably struggling to answer that question, but with founder and CEO Levi Conlow joining this week's show for an illuminating discussion, that struggle is now over.
The gang gathers to have a few laughs about the Tesla Cybertruck, before digging into the more serious topic of the situation at Cruise and the issues it has created for the entire autonomous vehicle sector.
With Cruise banned from testing and rides in the state of California following new revelations that the firm hid details of a pedestrian crash from the DMV, the gang huddles with Trucks VC partner and the godfather of The Autonocast Reilly Brennan to talk through the issues, impacts and path forward from another sector-defining incident. Plus, Reilly opens his mobility jobs board to startups in the sector.
With Cruise under NHTSA investigation and a new survey showing lower than ever public confidence in AVs, the gang discusses AV skepticism, its causes, cures, and the (not coincidental?) resurgence of the UAW, among other topics.
Alex and Kirsten riff on the most recent robotaxi news before they head off to the Up Summit in Dallas. With Ed gone this week, the duo turned to CMU professor, engineer and autonomous vehicle safety expert Philip Koopman swung by to discuss the hands-off, eyes-off Mercedes Drive Pilot system and whether it's really Level 3 automation.
The gang catches up after a variety of trips, including to the Florida AV Summit. We take a final look back at summer (and some mobility shenanigans and news) now that fall is here.
The long-simmering culture war between the high tech sector and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area erupted around the issue of AVs in recent weeks, as the CPUC voted to expand robotaxi operations in the city. The gang gathers this week to discuss the public outcry, the CPUC hearing, the subsequent crashes and other issues, and where it all fits into the AV sector's big picture.
With Alex and Kirsten sweating it out in Arizona (and Ed staying smugly cool in Oregon), a conversation about cars and air conditioning leads the gang across a wide range of mobility topics. From the upcoming AV showdown at California's CPUC and Tesla's Rangegate scandal to ChargePoint's decision to actually monitor EV chargers (imagine!), stay cool by staying on top of the hottest issues in mobility tech.
With Alex off on a secret mobility mission, Kirsten and Ed sit down with Matt Markel of the up-and-coming sensing startup Spartan Radar. The ensuing discussion covers the evolving automotive sensor market, the relationship between radar hardware and software, the unique needs of commercial vehicles, and much more.
There's been a whole lot of news since the gang last gathered to discuss the latest in mobility tech, so this week's episode is jam packed with topics. From the AV STEP program, Robotaxi PR and the evolution of the autonomous trucking space to the death of VanMoof, the renewal of the Chevy Bolt and the mystery of who might license Tesla's FSD, you'll find it all in the latest Autonocast discussion.
Lightship co-founders Toby Kraus and Ben Parker join part of our Autonocast crew to talk RVs and road trippin', EVs and how their experiences at Tesla influenced their new adventure.
After visiting Teleo's headquarters, Alex Roy insisted co-founder and CEO Romain Clement come on the show. And our conversation, which covers the highs and lows of the AV industry and Clement's new startup, doesn't disappoint.
With Ed's take on the future of Tesla's North American Charging Standard from the last discussion episode aging extremely poorly, the gang reopens the discussion about EV charging. Plus, Kirsten's participation in a new show on MAX, Alex's visit to a carless community, an odd automated driving survey and much more.
San Francisco is ground zero for a lot of the conflicts between the tech sector and society at large, and increasingly that conflict is centering on AVs. This week the gang discusses the technical and social factors at play, and how some AV developer strategies are shifting. Plus, a discussion of Ford's new deal to use Tesla Superchargers.
Trucking has emerged as one of the most interesting and important areas for electrification, and Google/Tesla/Zoox veteran (and all-round car nut) Ali Javidan is in the thick of things with his startup Range Energy. Ali joins the show to explain Range's electrified trailer concept and discuss his wide-ranging and, frankly, incredibly cool experiences at the intersection of mobility and technology.
With the Shanghai auto show underway, Alex, Kirsten and Ed get together to discuss the latest developments and couldn't help but notice some contrasts. In another classic discussion episode the gang breaks down contrasts in EV affordability and the role of driving automation in private vehicles.
The transition to electric vehicles isn't simply a matter of technology, education and communication are critical aspects of developing new markets for all kinds of mobility. This week Matt Teske of Chargeway joins the show to discuss how his company is solving the communication challenges in EV charging, and share his thoughts on the other challenges in the space.
Ed, Kirsten and Alex recently attended the South By Southwest festival, and though the event itself is recovering nicely from the pandemic, the tech sector presence is remarkably dialed back. This is especially noticeable in mobility tech, where the almost nonexistent presence of big future-focused vehicle and technology plays reflects broader challenges in the sector. The gang breaks down some of these issues and the possible roads ahead in another classic discussion episode.
Don Burnette comes back to The Autonocast to give the gang an update on autonomous trucking, the broader AV industry and where his startup fits in.
The gang chats with Cyrus Sigari, whose VC firm Up Partners recently released its first Moving World Report that dissects the macro and micro trends in mobility. The conversation goes far beyond the report though. Learn how up Partners got its start, where Cyrus is investing and what Up Partners-backed startup impressed Alex.
Mobileye founder, president and CEO Amnon Shashua has proposed a new way to describe automated driving. Alex, Ed and Kirsten dig into the topic and make a few new discoveries along the way.
Consumer Reports vehicle technology maven and friend of the show Kelly Funkhouser returns to discuss CR's new rankings for active driver assistance systems, the class of systems pioneered by Tesla Autopilot. Kelly explains why the ranking emphasizes collaborative and driver monitoring features over automation, how critical these elements are to the safety of such systems, where her work ranking them will go from here, and much more.
For CES this year, Ed decided to do something a little different, and invited two science fiction authors to check out the show, attend the infamous Autonocast party, and get an up-close look at the world of mobility tech. In this very special episode, Ed is joined by Patrick McGinty and Joanne McNeil for a lively and wide-ranging discussion of two SciFi authors' impressions from the heart of darkness of the mobility technology hype machine.
The story of automated driving often starts with the DARPA Challenges of 2004-07, but for Jan Becker the story starts well before then. On this week's episode, the AV pioneer and founder of Apex AI describes his own path through a tumultuous decade for the technology, and how the class he teaches at Stanford has evolved to include a variety of critical non-technical lessons.
The gang makes its annual trek to Las Vegas to check out and experience all of the mobility wonders at CES 2023. Does it impress? Blow our minds? Find out in this next episode when Alex, Ed and Kirsten rehash the highs and lows of the world's biggest auto, I mean, tech trade show.
How has emerging driving automation technology been developed and tested on public roads with such a relatively strong safety record? As Waymo's Francesca Favarò explains on this week's episode it has everything to do with the humans behind the wheel. On this week's episode we dive into how Waymo manages fatigue risk among safety operators, why it's so important, and where the landscape of safety standards has room to improve.
The crew was just back together for a week of car shows and conferences in Los Angeles, where they witnessed and discussed the very latest in mobility technology. On this week's episode they discuss it all, from the new Waymo/Zeekr robotaxi and Toyota's sleek new Prius to a retrofuturist Hyundai concept, an electric Fiat and much more.
The gang is back to discuss some big changes in the AV world. Argo AI has shut down and Alex Roy is now adjusting back to life out of the corporate lane. Is the AV industry dead as some suggest? Is ADAS the future worth betting on? Find out on this spicy episode of the Autonocast.
Ever been pulled over by police and wish you had a dashcam and a lawyer in the passenger seat? Ever been in a car crash and wondered what to do? Meet TurnSignl - a new app that provides attorneys-on-demand via live video. Co-Founder Jazz Hampton joins Kirsten and Alex to discuss de-escalation, and how TurnSignl helps make drivers, passengers and law enforcement safer.
Paris Marx is the host of the popular tech-critical podcast Tech Won't Save Us, and the author of a new book called Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation. On this week's episode, Paris joins Kirsten and Ed for a wide-ranging look at his left-of-center critiques of the mobility technology sector and his arguments for a less "solutionist" approach to our mobility challenges.
Jessie Singer's new book There Are No Accidents has made a big splash in the road safety community and far beyond, by interrogating a word that makes most people nod and move on: "accident." On this week's episode, Singer joins Alex, Kirsten and Ed to discuss how she became fascinated with the word, the realities she discovered behind its bland façade, and what it all means.
Ed's latest essay in the New York Times, calling into question the big batteries that have made EVs so popular among American consumers (who can afford them), sparks a wide-ranging discussion in this week's episode. From battery supply chains to American consumer preferences, and from road trips to home charging, almost every aspect of electrification comes together in this fascinating conversation.
Sometimes you just need to let it out and rant a bit, and this week Alex, Kirsten and Ed are each feeling the need to screed. Unsurprisingly a lot of this week's ranting is about Tesla, but the gang also found room in their harts to get ranty about other topics as well. So skip the blood pressure medication, eat something spicy and get ready to breath a little fire as we get fed up with things that really need to change in the mobility tech space.
The gang is back with another classic discussion episode, riffing on the latest and most important news from the mobility technology space. There's just one rule this time: no talking about Tesla. We'll be focusing on that topic next time around.
With the AV sector entering another round of turmoil, we are joined by two founders who lost their startups during previous periods of turmoil but have come back to the driving automation space. Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, who previously appeared on The Autonocast following the failure of Starsky Robotics is back to discuss Polymath Robotics, his new "plug and play" off-road autonomy company. He is joined by Josh Hartung, formerly of Polysync and now the founder of Sygnal, which is Polymath's partner on the hardware side. Together they provide unique perspective on the ever-evolving driving automation space.
Safety is one of the words that comes up most often in discussions about autonomous vehicles, but not many people really understand what the word even means in this complex context. Nat Beuse, VP of Safety at Aurora not only has "the s word" in his job title, its a topic he's thought about and worked on for decades. He joins this week's show for a wide-ranging discussion of safety, public trust, and autonomous vehicles.
Sam Anthony made his first appearance on The Autonocast in 2018, when we discussed his pedestrian intent/prediction startup Perceptive Automata in episode #98. He returns to the show for his first interview since the collapse of that company to reflect on his experience as a founder in the space, his concerns about the sector more broadly, and much more.
Bibhrajit Halder has been a part of the autonomous driving technology space since the days of the DARPA Challenges, working on Caterpillar's early automated mining trucks before working at Ford, Apple and elsewhere. Now the founder and CEO of SafeAI, Halder is back in the mining and heavy construction space and he joins the show to share his perspective on the state of autonomous heavy equipment and its similarities and differences with the more widely-followed robotaxi space.
The gang is back together, and finally has the time to discuss NHTSA's release of ADAS and ADS crash data. We discuss the data, what it does and doesn't mean, and explore the challenges and paths forward for automated driving regulation.
With the internet abuzz over the firing of a Google engineer who came to believe that a company chatbot is sentient, AI expert and deep learning skeptic Gary Marcus joins Alex and Ed to discuss the state of artificial intelligence. From LaMDA's alleged sentience and the problems with the Turing Test to Gary's proposed bet with Elon Musk and AI's role in autonomous driving, this wide-ranging conversation explores some of the most interesting topics in technology.
Arrival is a fascinating company on the brink of putting its bold vision of "microfactory"-made vans, busses and ridehailing vehicles into production. President Avinash Rugoobur joins the show to explain how its 10,000 unit/year microfactories upend the established rules of automaking, how the products enable these dramatic changes and where the whole thing is headed.