Self-driving is here. But not in the way you thought.
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I admit. I became cynical about self-driving cars. It feels like every three years we're told they'll be here in another three years. However, recently I saw a video that shocked me: Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt called for a taxi and a driverless car arrived. He was just one of hundreds of people in San Francisco who boarded the plane and found no one else inside.

So…are self-driving cars finally here?

I've been digging deep into that question over the past few months, trying to piece together all the other self-driving stuff I've heard about to get the full picture. I ended up in San Francisco, where I interviewed Kyle himself!

The answer I found to the question of whether self-driving exists here is: YES. Just not the way I thought. It's not the sci-fi version I expected. Instead, it's actually two types of autonomous vehicles currently competing on the roads. And our lives will look very different depending on who wins.

Chapters:
00:00 Self-driving cars are finally here
02:15 Levels of self-driving, explained
03:32 Where are we now with self-driving cars?
05:07 Thank you Masterpieces!
06:10 The big fight for the future of self-driving cars
07:04 Interview with Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise
08:20 Robotaxi meets the world (and police)
10:00 The two near futures of self-driving
11:52 The long-term future of driving

Important note (because I never want you to be confused about whether something is sponsored): The only sponsor in this video is Masterworks, which means they had to pre-approve their ad portion, but got no say in the rest of the video. video. Cruise did not pay me for my participation in this video. I did an interview with the CEO of Cruise and Cruise showed me their Bolt car, for which I am very grateful!

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Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. In her show Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technological topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see a positive future they can help build. Before becoming independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox's Netflix show, Explored. She produced videos for Vox's popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox's first-ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox's YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.

Vox: https://www.vox.com/authors/cleo-abram
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10108242/

Additional reading and viewing:
– “My first fully driverless pick-up!” Cruise https://youtu.be/dmvZBiWYkFQ
– “Why you would want self-driving cars on the road now”, Veritasium https://youtu.be/yjztvddhZmI
– “From 1956: A vision of the future on self-driving cars”, CBS https://youtu.be/F2iRDYnzwtk
– “There will be self-driving large platforms. Is America ready?” Christopher Mims, Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/self-driving-big-rigs-are-coming-is-america-ready-11655524823
– “Beyond Tesla: Self-Driving Startups Promise Next-Level Autonomous Vehicles,” Wall Street Journal video https://youtu.be/UdOxt11ofjQ
– “Are self-driving trucks the future of shipping? Inside Waymo's New Test Program,” NBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lon1vRv2wQ8&t=1s&ab_channel=NBCNews
– “75 minutes of autonomous driving with Kyle Vogt and Sam Altman,” Cruise https://youtu.be/sliYTyRpRB8
– “3 generations of self-driving vans”, WIRED https://youtu.be/j9C3eebCQX0
– “Tesla Autopilot for 24 hours!” Ryan Trahan https://youtu.be/ckib1ABJ_sM

Equipment I use:
Camera: Sony A7SIII
Lens: Sony 16–35mm F2.8 GM
Audio: Sennheiser SK AVX and Zoom H4N Pro

Music: Music bed

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—
Welcome to the joke layer:

What has 10 letters and starts with GAS?
Car.

Find a way to use the word 'start' in a comment to let me know you're a real one 😉

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