Tesla's Road Ahead: The Bitter Lesson in Robotics

a16z Podcast

What does Rich Sutton’s "Bitter Lesson" reveal about the decisions Tesla is making in its pursuit of autonomy?

In this episode, we dive into Tesla’s recent "We, Robot" event, where they unveiled bold plans for the unsupervised full-self-driving Cybercab, Robovan, and Optimus—their humanoid robot, which Elon Musk predicts could become “the biggest product ever.”

Joined by a16z partners Anjney Midha and Erin Price-Wright, we explore how these announcements reflect the evolving intersection of hardware and software. We’ll unpack the layers of the autonomy stack, the sources of data powering it, and the challenges involved in making these technologies a reality.

Anjney, with his experience in computer vision and multiplayer tech at Ubiquity6, and Erin, an AI expert focused on the physical world, share their unique perspectives on how these advancements could extend far beyond the consumer market.

For more insights, check out Erin’s articles linked below.

Resources:

Find Anj on Twitter: https://x.com/anjneymidha

Find Erin on Twitter: https://x.com/espricewright

Read Erin’s article ‘A Software-Driven Autonomy Stack Is Taking Shape’: https://a16z.com/a-software-driven-autonomy-stack-is-taking-shape/

AI for the Physical World: https://a16z.com/ai-for-the-physical-world/

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