Ride AI

The first Ride AI summit, an intimate gathering of top leaders in driving automation technology and related AI-empowered hardtech, is taking place on April 2 at Neuehouse in Hollywood, California. In this episode, our hosts Edward Niedermeyer, James Gross, and Timothy B. Lee preview the aspects of the event program they are most excited about. We already have an amazing group of speakers lined up, including Amnon Shashua of Mobileye, Gill Pratt of TRI, and other top decision makers from Waymo, Zoox, Wayve, Apollo Go, Nuro, and more. There's a ton of excitement around the fact that this will be the first event of its kind that people will be able to take a fully driverless Waymo robotaxi to, making it the perfect opportunity to inaugurate the second chapter of this technological space. The on-stage conversations will be focused on this shift, from experiments and ideas to delivering real-world realities, and how to reboot conversations with stakeholders in the public sector, capital markets, media, and beyond. https://lnkd.in/gCJUTxij

?? Volkswagen Group is testing robotaxis in nearly arctic conditions ?? At SXSW, Uber users find it's impossible to pick a Waymo in the app ?? Why Tesla could come from behind to win the autonomous ridehail race ?? All in this week's newsletter https://lnkd.in/giBn6mNY

We're about 90 minutes away from my AMA on the r/selfdrivingcars subreddit! Come by and ask all your burning questions about me, the Ride AI Summit, the situation at Tesla, the Autonocast, or anything else you like. See you soon! https://lnkd.in/gaFHGPnf

Next Tuesday (3/11) at 10a Pacific / 1p Eastern, Edward Niedermeyer is hosting a Reddit AMA to talk about the staggering AV advances of the last few months and where the road potentially extends next for mobility innovation within the automotive industry. Join us—and bring your most pressing questions about autonomy—and Ed will answer at r/SelfDrivingCars. This will be a nice little preview of the type of thought-provoking conversations we aim to cultivate at?Ride AI in LA?on 4/2—where Ed will be emceeing. Find out more ?? https://lnkd.in/g-7y7kCH

I'm doing an AMA about the Ride AI Summit (and anything else folks are curious about) at the r/SelfDrivingCars subreddit on Tuesday, April 11 at 10 am Pacific. If you have any burning questions for/about me, come by and I'll give you the best answer I can! https://lnkd.in/gaFHGPnf

Ticket prices for the Ride AI Summit are going up on Friday. Get yours at the current price while you can! If you are at all into AVs, you won't want to miss this event. Arrive in a driverless robotaxi, hear from top execs at Mobileye, Waymo, Zoox, Wayve, and many more, then join the conversation yourself at a rooftop reception. There has never been an event quite like this one before, space is limited, and you're going to want to say you were there! Get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/gph6xA_f

Every week I'm talking to more people who are excited to get involved in the Ride AI Summit on April 2, and I keep getting more and more excited for it myself! One conversation I'm especially looking forward to features three exciting companies vying to get their next-generation AI into new cars in order to advance the level of automation available at the dealership, and not just in trucks or robotaxis. Mobileye, Wayve and Nuro are very different companies, with very different pitches, all aimed at the same OEMs. Find out how they differentiate themselves and their technology, exclusively onstage at the Ride AI Summit! Learn more about the Ride AI Summit, the first event of its kind you can attend in a driverless robotaxi, at the link below. Sponsor and speaker slots are filling up and ticket prices will be rising, so get involved now! You can also drop me a message here if you want to learn more. Hope to see you in Hollywood! https://lnkd.in/gUX-XqeT

???? Elon Musk’s long-held dream of shipping FSD in China, the world’s largest car market, is one step closer to reality.?Tesla?has begun pushing a software update?called “Urban Road Autopilot Assistance” (URAA), which appears to have similar driver-assist features to FSD, but may be less capable initially due to insufficient data training on Chinese roads.?Tesla?now faces an uphill battle to convince Chinese drivers that its technology is worth $8,800 more than BYD’s gratis ADAS system: God’s Eye. ?? A Chinese auto expert’s take on God’s Eye: “It’s way overhyped” compared to the driver-assist offerings from carmakers like XPeng, Nio, and Li Auto. But will consumers care once BYD, which already sells 4M cars per year, starts shipping the software for free? ?? Meanwhile in the US, Musk-led?DOGE is cutting 10% of NHTSA’s workforce—including nearly half of the team that oversees AV regulation. https://lnkd.in/g4AVduWy

???? Excited to be moderating a panel at the Ride AI Summit on April 2nd at NeueHouse Hollywood! - "Robotaxi Revolution: Transforming Ride-Hail and More" Should be a great crowd and cool venue. And looking forward to meeting some of my The Driverless Digest readers in person. If you’re in LA, come say hi. Let’s talk robotaxis! ??? Thanks James Gross, Luke Hopping, Edward Niedermeyer, and Timothy B Lee for organizing! You can register to attend the summit here and get $100 off using my link ?? https://lnkd.in/eUEMAYSD

I’m super excited to announce Ride AI in Los Angeles on April 2nd! What started as a personal fascination with Micromobility Industries around being able to move more freely and building safe streets has become a new event platform. For years, we've watched the dream of integrating compute into mobility slowly transform from science fiction into reality before our eyes. But the road ahead still has its challenges. One of our editorial directors Timothy Lee just published a fascinating piece of yet another hurdle for driverless semi-trucks: reimagining how warning triangles and flares are deployed when no human driver is present to place them (a dangerous task that claims lives every year in it’s own way). We lose over 1 million people globally on roads annually—a number we believe technology can reduce dramatically. Beyond safety, improving how we move affects everything from economic opportunity to quality of life around the world. Like all new movements, I'm both excited and a bit nervous about launching this inaugural event. But when I look at our first-year lineup for Ride AI, I can't help but feel we're onto something special. If mobility's future matters to you, we'd be honored to see you there. And a heartfelt thank you to our sponsors and attendees whose support and what you are building has made this possible. Finally, shoutout to the Alephic team and Edward Niedermeyer for bringing it all together! https://www.rideai.org/