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I don't mean this in a disrespectful way: Why should anyone at Tesla listen to George Hotz? He doesn't have any incentive to care whether Tesla turns a profit

I don't mean this in a disrespectful way: Why should anyone at Tesla listen to George Hotz? He doesn't have any incentive to care whether Tesla turns a profit or not. On the contrary, it is in his best interest to advance self-driving as a feature and as a standalone technology. That kind of hardware ubiquity may not be good for Tesla. In three years, the market will be replete with mainstream EVs from the bigger (by # of cars sold) automakers. When that happens, Tesla will compete on more than powertrain technology alone, in its fight to maintain market share. If the big automakers install the same self-driving technology that Tesla has spent years developing, then what separates Tesla from any other EV? The big automakers are going to have better fit and finish; that's what they have been producing en masse for decades. Moreover, the big automakers have a broad and effective sales and distribution network.

lardo 6y ago
Is aptiv/nutonomy a serious contender? The big automakers are betting on subcontracting self-driving tech like they do with every other commodity part.
m463 6y ago
The only reason I can think of is that Elon Musk - in the beginning - was open to sharing EV technology to help with a sustainable future. Any other car company would probably not be interested in sharing. Now - is self-driving in the same realm? There might be two angles - supporting electric vehicle development and maybe safety/lives saved. for electric vehicles it might apply - but I don't imagine tesla would share technology that could be used on fossil fuel vehicles. for lives/safety - who knows, but it would be good PR ...if tesla still does that without a PR department :)
curryst 6y ago
It would provide Tesla an option to exit the automobile market and become an upstream parts supplier. My guess is the profits for that are substantially lower, though.

lardo 6y ago

Is aptiv/nutonomy a serious contender? The big automakers are betting on subcontracting self-driving tech like they do with every other commodity part.

m463 6y ago

The only reason I can think of is that Elon Musk - in the beginning - was open to sharing EV technology to help with a sustainable future. Any other car company would probably not be interested in sharing. Now - is self-driving in the same realm? There might be two angles - supporting electric vehicle development and maybe safety/lives saved. for electric vehicles it might apply - but I don't imagine tesla would share technology that could be used on fossil fuel vehicles. for lives/safety - who knows, but it would be good PR ...if tesla still does that without a PR department :)

curryst 6y ago

It would provide Tesla an option to exit the automobile market and become an upstream parts supplier. My guess is the profits for that are substantially lower, though.