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Autonomous generation is developing. Alphabet’s Waymo will use generation in Fiat Chrysler cars. Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman joins The First Trade panel
BRIAN SOZZI: But by staying in the car, the autonomous driving generation is developing. In a big move, Waymo of Alphabet will use generation in Fiat-Chrysler cars. And there’s a plan for driverless delivery trucks. Let’s look at this and what it will mean with Rick Newman, senior columnist and automotive guru at Yahoo Finance.
Well, Rick, it’s been a wonderful week for the moment of the self-driving car. We spent the week with Ford and Mobileye joining forces. And now this with Waymo. Why did this happen?
RICK NEWMAN: Because it’s the wave of transportation. I mean, self-driving cars: we already have so-called autonomous driving functions. I mean, the cruiser is an independent function. Now we have a smart CruiseArray that can speed up and slow down based on the traffic around it.
We have the devices that can take you to the next lane because they can say it’s safe to do so. Cadillac has autonomous driving capability. Tesla has its so-called autopilot.
Then this happens. And it’s potentially transformative because, not only for what travelers can do, you know, it runs on their computers as they move into the office, in theory, but also for the delivery space. I mean, it’s probably one of the biggest advertising programs here. And that’s what Waymo and Fiat-Chrysler are talking about here: putting this generation in a Dodge van that Waymo needs to use for its delivery service.
So create deliveries on robotic vehicles. That’s really where you’re headed. And Amazon’s worried about that. You know, UPS – UPS and FedEx are interested. So, at some point, I don’t know when it will happen, Sozzi, however, at some point, your Amazon packages will be delivered through a robot in a van without a human.
BRIAN SOZZI: That has to be tomorrow, Rick. Tomorrow I want Array
RICK NEWMAN: It won’t be tomorrow. We still want human drivers for a little longer.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yes, I would say. Hey, Rick. Good comment on cruise control. I guess it’s like an old form of autonomous driving, right? I’ve never been a big fan of that. But I still feel like I want to put my foot in [INAUDIBLE]
RICK NEWMAN: And it’s getting better. And it’s getting better.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: – one or the other.
RICK NEWMAN: Yes, and it starts… Go ahead.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: But I need to change the gears for a moment and ask what all this is for the leader in this area or for the leaders in that area: Tesla and now, of course, Nikola. Should they get involved in that?
RICK NEWMAN: Well, I don’t want Tesla to be a leader in autonomous generation or self-driving cars. They think they are and they’ve settled that way. But all automakers use this generation.
I mean, there are two revolutions going on. One is the electrification of the car. Tesla is a leader there. And this is where Nikola’s trying to get in.
But all automakers use autonomous driving technology. And they have been for a long time. Tesla implemented it very aggressively. But they have also had high-profile accidents, adding deaths that recommend they have become too difficult, too fast.
General Motors is a little more cautious. Other automakers are even more cautious than that. So this generation happens everywhere. And I think a lot of automakers will have attractive products. They’re already doing it. But we’ll see a sharp acceleration over the next five or seven years. And that’s the goal of this agreement with Waymo and Fiat-Chrysler.
BRIAN SOZZI: Rick, a balanced guy.
RICK NEWMAN: Sometimes.
BRIAN SOZZI: We asked Mobileye’s CEO to tell us that we might see robot taxis on the road in 2025. Is it coming down enormously? I don’t see it. I don’t even see regulators talking about it.
RICK NEWMAN: Well, they’re definitely talking about it. And there are some cities. I mean, it’s not going to happen in New York where we’re hanging out, Brian. But there are places like Phoenix and Pittsburgh that have said, yes, it’s general to use our roads as a type of control box for those cars, also in other parts of Michigan, where American automakers are headquartered.
So this is … this happens on genuine roads. Regulators must approve it. If a few years ago, we had … a pedestrian died through a so-called self-driving car in Arizona. And there was a driving force in that car that just wasn’t paying attention.
But this generation has also malfunctioned. So this will probably save lives in general if implemented gradually and correctly, because I regret telling all the demons of speed, but computers are safer drivers than humans, on average. But it wants to be deployed as the generation matures.
And if we jump too fast, I mean, we’re going to have a lot of problems, as we’ve already noticed with some incidents. Then he’s coming. I don’t know if it’s 2025 or 2035, but it’s on its way.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Rick, it turns out we’re going to see more of those clashes, right, between classic automakers and primary technologies. If I had to make an informed assumption, what would some of those other associations look like?
RICK NEWMAN: Well, wait, it’s an attractive fusion between automakers and tech companies. Autonomous driving is therefore a matter of software. That’s all, it’s synthetic intelligence. That’s what Silicon Valley does well.
And, of course, Silicon Valley doesn’t bend steel and doesn’t need to get into this business. Thus, some car brands – General Motors, for example – basically expand it internally. However, they buy some corporations that have this technology.
And Waymo is: Waymo expands it for other car manufacturers with less capitalization, which Fiat-Chrysler does not have the ability to expand internally. Or they just think that … it’s just that it’s better for them to partner with someone. So you can just describe it as a competition.
Will Silicon Valley beat the automakers in this game and then force them to leave the company? I don’t think so because I think automakers will have to keep making cars. Of course. We’ll see Silicon Valley worried about the cars of the future. And we could see more concessions between Waymo and other automakers.
BRIAN SOZZI: Hi, Rick, very soon before you let go. I’m sure your Twitter fans are curious about it. Do you trade your Subaru for a self-contained Mustang when it launches?
RICK NEWMAN: Not because my Subaru has manual transmission. I’m going to be one of the last dead ends with manual transmission. And I’ve made sacrifices for this manual transmission, as you can’t have a smart cruiser in a car with automatic transmission for various technical reasons. So I had to give up some of the bells and whistles for the thrill of driving, Brian.
BRIAN SOZZI: You’re a great guy, Rick Newman. That’s why I like to communicate with you. All right, Rick Newman, let’s leave it at that. We’ll get back to you soon.
RICK NEWMAN: Goodbye guys.
BRIAN SOZZI: And manual transmission.