Is Industry Collaboration the Best Way Forward for Self-Driving Cars?

What has 2024 meant for autonomous vehicles? That depends on who you ask. Earlier in the year, Waymo and Cruise both had eminently bad weeks; more recently, the NHTSA began investigations into the self-driving technology used by both Tesla and Ford. Other autonomous vehicle experiments are going better, though, including a pilot program at JFK International Airport.

The autonomous vehicle industry is composed of many disparate parts right now, and that’s led one business leader to ask if a collaborative effort might not get more accomplished. Specifically, that’s the goal of SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son — and considering the resources SoftBank has at its disposal, he’s in a better position than most to make connections across the industry.

The New York Times‘ River Akira Davis has more on Son’s initiative, which has seen him pitch the idea to executives from the likes of Uber, Honda and Nissan. Davis cites a number of sources “briefed on his plans” who said that Son’s goals for the project include sharing resources for things like constantly updated maps. It’s not hard to see how a centralized database of road information could overcome some of the issues that have arisen with the current status quo of self-driving vehicles.

Davis also points to Son’s recent investments in (and enthusiasm for) AI technology, which he has spoken of as a way to make roads significantly safer in the long term.

Ohmio’s Autonomous Vehicles Are Running at JFK Airport

The pilot program is running for three months

In a 2023 interview with CNBC, Son spoke about the promise of AI and its potential to make driving safer: “I’m optimistic that AI is going to solve the issues that mankind couldn’t solve in the past, like difficult disease, the natural disasters, the car accidents, all kinds of other issues that humankind had in the past will be helped by the advancement of AI and technology.”

Can a combination of industry leaders make a breakthrough that none of them have achieved individually? It’s an ambitious man’s ambitious plan — but, as the saying goes, there’s safety in numbers. Maybe that’s also the right path towards innovation.