This is about turning cars into very smart robots on wheels that can drive themselves by using lots of cameras, sensors, and AI ‘brains’ built by tech companies in Silicon Valley.
Reduces accidents caused by human error, cuts labor cost of drivers, and enables new mobility services (robotaxis, autonomous delivery) by replacing or augmenting human drivers with software and sensors.
Large-scale driving data, high-capital sensor and compute infrastructure, proprietary perception/planning stacks, tight integration with mapping and simulation platforms, and regulatory/town-level deployment partnerships create significant barriers to entry.
Hybrid
Unknown
High (Custom Models/Infra)
Real-time inference latency, long-tail safety edge cases, and regulatory approval processes across regions.
Early Adopters
Silicon Valley players typically combine cutting-edge AI, massive compute, and tight software-first integration to move faster than traditional automakers, increasingly positioning the car as an updatable software platform rather than a static mechanical product.