> So how is the future of this space not just "everybody licenses Google's platform"? I feel like what we've already seen in the DARPA grand challenge and in t

> So how is the future of this space not just "everybody licenses Google's platform"? I feel like what we've already seen in the DARPA grand challenge and in the self driving car research world will be what happens in the future: trailblazing is really hard work, but once others can see it can be done, even without a lot of details of how it was done, doing the same thing is usually much easier, or at least more obviously viable and so worth the investment. Not to mention all the published research, suppliers with established manufacturing, and experienced engineers looking for other jobs that would now be out there. Starting a self driving car company ten years from now, say, still would not be remotely easy, but you won't need anywhere near twenty years to catch up.