Dmitri Dolgov, Co-CEO of Waymo, talks about the future of driving and the rise of autonomous vehicles. He shares his confidence in Waymo's vehicles being better at driving than humans. They discuss the challenges faced by autonomous vehicles in their early days and Waymo's journey towards launching the Waymo One service. They also explore the potential profitability of fully autonomous vehicles and the optimization of road systems with their increasing use.

Dmitri Dolgov, Co-CEO of Waymo and a pioneer in self-driving technology, discusses the remarkable journey of autonomous vehicles. He shares insights on technological breakthroughs that led to Waymo’s sixth generation of driverless cars. The conversation touches on scaling challenges in cities like Phoenix and San Francisco and the overall impact of autonomous driving on urban mobility and car ownership. Dmitri also addresses safety evaluations and the regulatory landscape necessary for fostering public trust in self-driving technology.

Dmitri Dolgov is the CTO of Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Tryolabs: https://tryolabs.com/lex – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Waymo’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/waymo Waymo’s Website: https://waymo.com PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: – Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast – Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman – Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexFridmanPage – Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) – Introduction (07:46) – Computer games (12:52) – Childhood (15:24) – Robotics (16:14) – Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (18:26) – DARPA Urban Challenge (28:46) – Waymo origin story (44:27) – Waymo self-driving hardware (53:00) – Connected cars (58:53) – Waymo fully driverless service in Phoenix (1:03:14) – Getting feedback from riders (1:11:28) – Creating a product that people love (1:17:18) – Do self-driving cars need to break the rules like humans do? (1:24:03) – Waymo Trucks (1:29:41) – Future of Waymo (1:42:53) – Role of lidar in autonomous driving (1:55:53) – Machine learning is essential for autonomous driving (1:59:55) – Pedestrians (2:06:32) – Trolley problem (2:11:00) – Book recommendations (2:22:26) – Meaning of life