Episode 292 | Tier IV’s Open-Source Playbook for Scaling Autonomy Globally

Apr 22, 2025

Christian John, President of TIER IV North America, dives into the world of open-source autonomous driving in this engaging discussion. He highlights TIER IV's innovative approach to scaling modular platforms for everything from robotaxis to buses. The success of their autonomous buses in Japan, especially addressing the aging population and driver shortages, is impressive. John emphasizes the power of collaboration in the sector and explains how open-source software can drive global advancements in autonomy.

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INSIGHT

Tier IV's Modular Platform Approach

Tier IV builds open-source based reference platforms that integrate autonomy into various vehicle types.
This approach allows diversification for taxis, buses, industrial logistics, and more under one software foundation.

INSIGHT

Open Source Enables Collaborative Innovation

Tier IV pursues an open platform for autonomy to enable innovation across many companies.
Collaborative investment reduces costs and accelerates scaling versus proprietary systems.

INSIGHT

Ecosystem Collaboration Benefits Autonomy

Open source autonomy allows silicon vendors and middleware providers to optimize for AI acceleration.
This ecosystem fosters joint innovation that matches vertically integrated companies' power.

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Christian John, President, TIER IV North America joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how TIER IV is scaling open-source autonomous driving platform software globally.

Tier IV is using the foundational elements of Autoware, an open-source autonomous driving software stack to build scalable, modular reference platforms for everything from robotaxis to autonomous buses and industrial logistics. This open platform approach allows multiple companies to collaborate, innovate, and distribute development costs across the ecosystem, similar to Meta’s open-source LLama model for AI.

In Japan, TIER IV is experiencing particular success with autonomous buses in Japan, where they’ve secured approximately 50% of municipal contracts as part of Japan’s Mobility DX initiative addressing the country’s aging population and driver shortage.

As autonomy scales globally, open-source autonomous driving software could play a vital role. It’s a role that TIER IV wants to play in the global autonomy market.

Episode Chapters

0:00 TIER IV Platform

6:27 Open-Source Software

8:25 Autoware

9:52 Building on the TIER IV Platform

11:52 Japanese Autonomy Market

17:32 Nippon Steel

21:46 Vehicle Platforms

23:51 Developing Public Trust

26:31 Robotaxis

31:58 Scaling in North America

36:00 Future of TIER IV

Recorded on Friday, April 18, 2025

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