Ok, I appreciate that timelines in this space are long. But the opening phrase:<p>"Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) and Waymo reached a preliminary agreement to explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development..."<p>reads a bit like a parody of corporate speak about a project nowhere close to happening. Did they agree to deploy? Or reach an agreement to collaborate? No, that's too strong. They will EXPLORE collaborating on ACCELERATING development.
>"Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) and Waymo reached a preliminary agreement to explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies. "<p>The current HN title seems too definite.
Toyota has been way, way behind on electrification. I suspect they’ve been Innovator’s Dilemma’d are are in a death spiral that they haven’t even noticed yet
The future of (public) transportation absolutely is driverless cars.<p>Every time I'm stuck in traffic on an LA highway with 5+ lanes and I see the horrendously inefficient use of space this future becomes clearer.<p>Waymos are also really confidence inspiring. They drive more safely and cautiously than any Uber/Lyft driver I've ridden with.<p>If every car on the road was synced then they could drive more closely to each other and at much faster speeds. This would optimize road space, decrease congestion, and reduce transit times.<p>So I'm happy to see more announcements like this. I hope the Waymo driverless tech becomes ubiquitous.
Want I’d want to see is a focus on level 5 autonomous driving from day 1. (Edit: Even if the system is level 4 to start with.) Yes the current coverage area is limited, but if you live in one of those cities the coverage area is easily large enough to be useful.<p>Oddly enough I think this is one of the few times when a subscription model makes sense. The current approach has a fallback call center which can give the cars driving directions in unexpectedly situations, which could be supported by either a monthly subscription or low hourly fee. Similarly move out of the coverage area and stop paying etc.
This is the choice quote from the article:<p>"Toyota and Waymo aim to combine their respective strengths to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform. In parallel, the companies will explore how to leverage Waymo's autonomous technology and Toyota's vehicle expertise to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles (POVs)."
This feels like a pretty natural pairing. Waymo brings the software + autonomy stack, and Toyota has the scale and track record for building reliable, safe vehicles. If this actually leads to autonomous tech in personally owned cars (not just robotaxi fleets), that would be a major shift from the current trajectory
To me, it looks as if Toyota is hedging their bets. Toyota has made public statements about their view of autonomous vehicle research. Their publicly stated belief is that active safety is their focus. Things like collision avoidance, and mitigation.<p>On the other hand, Waymo has been at it for about 15 years. The Toyota people are smart enough to know they can't catch up in full autonomy within the next two or three product generations of vehicles.<p>For their part, Waymo is looking for more vehicle platforms.
I can't overstate how hopeful I am about Waymo. They are already literally 10x safer than human drivers [1] and they'd become vastly safer still if they completely replaced human drivers on the road. This would also make commuting a much more pleasant experience, which I think could greatly relieve the housing crisis in high-demand cities. Parents would have an alternative to hours of driving kids to activities.<p>I can't think of another pipeline technology that is both this proven and this impactful.<p>[1] <a href="https://waymo.com/blog/2024/12/new-swiss-re-study-waymo" rel="nofollow">https://waymo.com/blog/2024/12/new-swiss-re-study-waymo</a>
A bit thin. Seems like they got the MoU done first - without solving any of the hard questions.<p>Also - big warning that they're highlighting "wave" and Toyota Technologies in general.
I know we Americans just love to own cars, what with the rapid depreciation, constant maintenance and massive storage requirements. Who could resist? But isn't the promise of self driving vehicles that we don't <i>all</i> need to own, maintain and operate a 4000lb machine? I know it's hard to resist dropping the $30k, $40k or even $50k and paying that monthly insurance we all love. But wouldn't it be better if we could just summon whatever vehicle we need for the hour and then get on with our lives? And more importantly, don't we all want the benefits that will come from having mostly robo-cars on the road - such as fewer accidents and injuries, less traffic, faster trips and more parking?
been watching this space forever, always cracks me up how we go from overhyped PR to endless hedging - nothing feels real till someone puts their name on the liability. anyone else think real change happens only when they truly risk something?
Waymo has to start moving faster, and democratizing the space by making it available to all car makers is smart, because it seems that Elon Musk is pushing Tesla to make RoboTaxis their #1 priority:<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-elon-musk-prioritize-robotaxis-over-cheaper-vehicle-2024-4" rel="nofollow">https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-elon-musk-prioritize-r...</a>
Anything Toyota latches themselves to eventually dies.<p>Toyota and hybrid vehicles - very weak entry into the market<p>Toyota and hydrogen powered vehicles - dead on arrival<p>Toyota’s failure to electrify fleet<p>Now they want autonomous vehicles? Wonder who backs out first? Waymo or Toyota once they realize what a joke Toyota is.<p>Well at least they are not collaborating with Nissan.
The world would be a lot better off if Tesla and Uber get smoked on this. Tesla's public testing of beta quality industrial control software and Uber's attempt to lilypad jump across the backs of financially unsophisticated drivers are contemptible. I'd be very glad to see neither strategy actually work in the end.
Waymo has also partnered with a lot of the rest of the auto industry with little to show for it...<p>I wonder if this time it'll be different now it looks like Tesla might finally get self driving to the mass market.