#305: AI Hype vs Hard Reality

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.