Tekedra Mawakana | All-In Summit 2024

The Besties welcome Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana (0s)

• Waymo, a self-driving company owned by Google, has opened up its robo-taxis to all users in an unnamed city. (4s)
• Waymo has reportedly been completing over 100,000 paid trips per week. (1m8s)
• Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing services are currently available in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Bay Area, and Austin. (1m22s)

Joining Waymo, breaking down their approach vs competitors (1m43s)

• Waymo, initially the Google self-driving car project, began in 2009 and became a separate entity in 2016. (1m47s)
• Waymo has been offering a 24/7 driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix since 2020 and has since expanded to San Francisco and Los Angeles. (3m17s)
• Waymo uses a combination of lidar, radar, and cameras in its autonomous vehicles, believing that this approach is necessary for achieving Level 4 autonomy and improving road safety. (8m37s)

Focus on reducing deaths, impact on Uber, creating an AV ecosystem (9m57s)

• The most important goal for autonomous vehicles is to reduce traffic fatalities, which are preventable and impact many people. (10m23s)
• Partnerships with companies like Uber are important for creating an autonomous vehicle ecosystem and exploring different use cases for the technology. (14m20s)
• The insurance industry is eager to understand the impact of autonomous vehicles and is interested in the data being released. (15m41s)

Thoughts on Cruise's issues in SF, operating at scale, unit economics (16m44s)

• A lack of transparency from autonomous vehicle companies hinders progress and erodes public trust. (17m17s)
• There is a significant opportunity for autonomous vehicles to become integrated into everyday life, beyond simple tourism or novelty rides. (19m44s)
• While the current cost of producing an autonomous vehicle is high, the focus should be on the path to profitability and achieving positive unit economics through factors like operational scale and vehicle utilization. (22m7s)

Selling to carmakers, US focus vs international (22m9s)

• Waymo's strategy includes making their self-driving technology available to other car manufacturers. (22m48s)
• Waymo is currently focused on the US market due to it being where they started, but they have global aspirations. (23m36s)
• Waymo has been improving their technology's ability to operate in adverse weather conditions, including testing in snow and ice, and they have mastered driving in fog. (27m12s)

Hardest challenge while leading Waymo (27m51s)

• One of the hardest challenges was bringing the company culture back together after deciding to develop fully autonomous vehicles. (28m11s)
• Another challenge is managing the team's stress levels when things go wrong on the road, as the stakes are very high. (28m36s)
• Many employees joined the company because they have lost someone in a car accident and are personally invested in the mission. (29m29s)