F. Fishkin, April 21, "The NJ AI Summit at Princeton University impresses. Tesla cuts the subscription price of Supervised FSD to 99 dollars as Musk posts about the 10 billion dollar investment. Cruise returns...with drivers. The 6th Smart Driving Cars Summit is coming at the end of May. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more on episode 367 of Smart Driving Cars.

• 0:00 open
• 0:40 New Jersey AI Summit held at Princeton
• 7:09 Tesla cuts price for Supervised FSD subscription- Alain’s take on The Verge report
• 17:25 Release notes on latest Supervised FSD taking responsible approach as Musk posts on X about investment
• 26:40 Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas looks to August 8th Tesla Robotaxi event
• 27:29 Tesla settles Apple engineer fatal autopilot crash case
• 36:19 Cruise resumes with manual driving
• 37:05 Bern Grush reviews The Real Case for Driverless Mobility
• 46:08 Upcoming 6th Smart Driving Car Summit"

Reuters, April 21, “Tesla slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States, as CEO Elon Musk doubles down on self-driving technology.

Musk is betting on the technology to become cash cow for the world's most valuable automaker. But he has for years failed to achieve the goal of self-driving capability, with the technology under growing regulatory and legal scrutiny.  …”

Hmmmm…  Reducing price by one-third is “doubling down”?  Whatever.  I remain a “fanboy”.  Enough said.  Alain

Staff,  April 20, “Key areas of interest among shareholders on the Say Platform include updates on Tesla's next-generation platform, advancements in Robotaxi development, progress on Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, and the scaling up of production for the 4680 cells.

The most prominent queries, based on votes, center around the 4680 cells initiative, followed by inquiries regarding the Optimus project and updates on Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, particularly in anticipation of the upcoming Robotaxi reveal scheduled for August. Here’s the list of the most up-voted questions. …”

Hmmmm…   It should be really interesting.  Hopefully Elon realizes that while it has some impressive positive attributes, the mis-behavior burden of the “AirBnB FSD” concept makes it a net loser.  Maybe in “20 years” after achieving a “Mature&sociallyResponsible FSD” one can tippy toe into an “AirBnB” version minefield, but as the first one out of the box put an enormous challenge on FSD.  Please crawl, walk, before going head-first into this one. (plus the value is not there…  the market for a good when the supply is overabundant is …  Yup…  How many people need my room when I don’t need it.  Plus… what do I need to do to let someone else sleep in my bed.  AirBnB is a niche business.  Doesn’t work for many who have trouble paying the rent.   Alain & Elizabeth

N. Marsh, April 9, “There is a moment on the A21 bus, at around midnight, when the man in the driver's seat presses a small red button on his dashboard.

He smiles, then lets go of the steering wheel and lifts his feet from the pedals. The vehicle continues to glide through the streets of South Korea's capital, Seoul, turning corners and stopping at traffic lights. No-one on board seems to notice.

"One day all the buses in Seoul will be driverless," says Park Kang-uk, head of operations at SUM (Smart YoUr Mobility).

His company has spent the past four years developing the city's new self-driving night bus, which authorities say is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

… Maybe???...Cruise did the “at night approach in SF, but that was with  “cars”… minor detail…

 The quiet night-time roads are also the ideal place to test the technology, which is still far from perfect.

There are some safety measures on board. For example, passengers have to be sitting down and must wear a seatbelt at all times.

There is also someone in the driver's seat, who can take control of the bus in case something goes wrong. Soon, Mr Park insists, there won't be any need for that. …”

Hmmmm… I wonder what is the definition of “soon”?  When that time comes, hopefully the BBC will cover it and will claim the societal achievement is much more than “Look, no hands!” photo op.   Alain

Business wire, April 17, “Mobileye announced today it has delivered the first production-candidate hardware and software of its new EyeQ™6 Lite system-on-chip to its customers, which will power advanced driver-assistance systems in multiple models launching this year. This milestone marks the beginning of the EyeQ6 family, with the EyeQ6L already set to be installed in 46 million vehicles over the next few years – becoming the global auto industry’s ADAS solution of choice from the start. It will be followed by the EyeQ6 High advanced system-on-chip, on track to launch in early 2025. …”

Hmmmm…   This is a big announcement for all around the world that drive themselves.  Alain

C. Fortuna, April 9, “In a press release, IIHS President David Harkey noted that the safety agency is determined to push automakers to raise the bar in vehicle safety. “We continue to raise the bar for vehicle safety with another significant update to our award criteria. This year’s winners represent the pinnacle of automotive safety, demonstrating exceptional protection for both occupants and vulnerable road users,” he said. The changes to the 2024 award criteria are designed to push automakers to pursue higher levels of safety. …”

Hmmmm… The whole industry needs to pursue higher levels of safety, especially for those that prefer and can afford to drive themselves.  OEMs were supposed to have Automated Emergency Braking that actually worked on all cars in today’s show rooms.  Hopefully IIHS will raise the bar so that they do.  Also, hopefully NHTSA will begin to require OEMs to not allow excessive speeding, or inattentive operation of personally owned consumer vehicles. These and other safety-related topics of vehicles we choose to drive ourselves will be front and center in the deliberations during the 6^th SDC Summit at the end of May.  Alain

Andrew Hawkins, April 16, “Forget the fact that most autonomous vehicles operate each day safely, anonymously, and without fanfare. There are hundreds in operation today in California, Arizona, Texas, and elsewhere, and the numbers are only going to increase. But when they do make mistakes, people tend to notice. Numerous public opinion polls have shown declining support for autonomous vehicles (AV) over the years and a rise in outright hostility toward the technology.

The autonomous vehicle industry’s main lobbying group — yes, of course it has one — is intent on reversing this trend before it gets much worse. The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA) represents Cruise, Waymo, Zoox, Motional, and others. Today, it released something it’s calling its “TRUST Principles,” which is basically an action plan for dealing with these negative headlines and spiraling poll numbers.. ….” 

Hmmmm…   What?? Maybe the “lobbying group” hasn’t done a good job in selling the value of “autonomous vehicles (AV)”.  Have they done a self-reflection and look critically at what their polls ask and what they are pushing.  Why should anyone want to “support” something like that.  Why shouldn’t the “public” (the 99 %)  be outraged at something that is for the 1%!  Think about it… “look no hands”!!!   Alain & Elizabeth

Sam Byford , April 18, “Google and a number of automakers are spearheading the movement to get automated vehicles on America's roads. Self-driving cars are street legal in three states, and Google's fleet has collectively logged over 300,000 miles of time on the road. However, there are several obstacles in the path of widespread adoption, with legal and moral opposition to the concept coming from all corners. Follow this StoryStream to track the technology's progress as it transitions from experimental testing to consumer reality that could save thousands of lives.

Orange cones are robot kryptonite.

At least seven driverless Waymo vehicles blocked the on-ramp to 101 after being flummoxed by a construction site on Portrero Drive, according to video of the incident posted on Reddit…”

Hmmmm…   What?? Really, there was no way to get from A2B is to use the 101 and Waymo didn’t find out in time to not provide service to B from anywhere around A?  Sounds like a Waymo management problem.  They send their cars into areas where people are playing with fireworks and want to give service between locations that are unconnected by the set of public roads that they’ve been given permission to use free of charge.  That’s not a robot problem, that’s a human oversight management problem. Robots should not be ordered by humans to do things that is either impossible or illegal for them to do. Title of this should be… “Orange cones are management kryptonite”.  Alain & Elizabeth

F. Fishkin, April 19, Part five. Okay…so who really needs driverless mobility?  Clearly…it promises to be an affordable, safe option for people who can’t drive themselves for a variety of reasons..and can be life changing.  At Princeton University,  Professor Alain Kornhauser has worked with teams of students creating a digital tool to show communities nationwide how it can work for them.  It will be shown at the upcoming  Smart Driving Cars Summit.  And Kornhauser says just maybe…it can evenbwork even for those of us who own cars.”..”

Hmmmm… Nice!  Fred… Thank you  😊 Alain

vehicles to improve equitable access for mobility disadvantaged populations…” Read More 

Hmmmm… Thank you Bern J Alain

Alain Kornhauser, March 8, “We promise civil and lively discussions as to how to improve the Quality-of-Life (QoL) for many while disrupting the QoL to as few as possible.  Focus will be on the business aspects…

Giving Oneself a Ride

• Latest on ADAS Safety, Functionality, Regulation and potential Collaboration (given anti-trust relaxation), consumer value    

Getting a Driverless Ride

• By people and goods using public roads
  • “Proof-of-Concept” (Safety Update and Last “50 feet” delivery concepts )
  • “Proof-of-Market” (Arizona, California, Texas, ...  rural & beyond)
  • “Proof-of-Policy/Politics/Sociology” (Regulation + Opportunities for Collaboration on Safety (given anti-trust relaxation.))
• By people and goods on private property.
  • “Proof-of-Concept” (Safety Update)
  • “Proof-of-Market” ( Return-on-Investment (RoI) focus on: Private “ways”, Manufacturing, Ports, Terminals, Warehouses, Mining, Farms)
  • “Proof-of-Policy/Politics/CorporateGovernance” (OSHA, Unions )

Workshop

• MOVES – Style Deployments “anywhere”.  (See Example)
  • Design, Analysis, Simulation, Animation & Business Case

Hmmmm… Please see the registration and sponsorship pages.  Given the success that we’ve had with the past Summits and the quality of the program that we’ve been able to assemble to date, we fully expect to be sold out. Hope you’ll be able to join in with us. Alain

F. Fishkin, April 14, “ The NJ AI Summit at Princeton University impresses. Tesla cuts the subscription price of Supervised FSD to 99 dollars as Musk posts about the 10 billion dollar investment. Cruise returns...with drivers. The 6th Smart Driving Cars Summit is coming at the end of May. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more on episode 367 of Smart Driving Cars.

• 0:00 open
• 0:40 New Jersey AI Summit held at Princeton
• 7:09 Tesla cuts price for Supervised FSD subscription- Alain’s take on The Verge report
• 17:25 Release notes on latest Supervised FSD taking responsible approach as Musk posts on X about investment
• 26:40 Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas looks to August 8th Tesla Robotaxi event
• 27:29 Tesla settles Apple engineer fatal autopilot crash case
• 36:19 Cruise resumes with manual driving
• 37:05 Bern Grush reviews The Real Case for Driverless Mobility
• 46:08 Upcoming 6th Smart Driving Car Summit