Why Waymo CEO John Krafcik Thinks Tesla’s Self-Driving Plans Are “Irresponsible”
Marsha Stevenson 
Waymo CEO John Krafcik has recently criticized Tesla’s self-driving plans, claiming they are “irresponsible” and “not how it works”. The statement came after Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk announced plans to roll out self-driving cars on the roads in 2020, just a few months away.
In this article, we will explore why Krafcik believes Tesla’s plans are unsafe, and whether this criticism is valid.
Overview of Waymo and Tesla
Waymo is the self-driving technology company owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company. It was founded in 2009 as a project of Google and spinoff from their research on autonomous vehicles. The tech giant has invested heavily in developing state-of-the-art autonomous technologies. In addition, he operates one of the world’s largest fleets of cars and trucks and ride-hailing services with its ongoing partnership with various automakers.
On the other hand, is an automotive industry leader developing electric cars and energy storage systems. Tesla also has invested heavily in its efforts to develop a self-driving car technology product, which they plan to introduce soon into their parent company’s vehicles. While tech enthusiasts and industry insiders alike have highly anticipated this, Waymo CEO John Krafcik has expressed his opinion on Tesla’s plans for automation as “irresponsible” due to its lack of safety preventive measures and precautions taken in testing their processes before releasing it onto the mass market.
Speaking to Reuters at CES2020, Krafcik said: “This is not how it works – you can’t just put that much technology into people’s environment.” But, he added, “The rigorous testing we have done…is fundamentally there just to ensure safety.”
Waymo CEO dismisses Tesla self-driving plan: “This is not how it works”
Waymo CEO John Krafcik made headlines recently for his comments about Tesla’s plans for self-driving vehicles. During a talk at the 2019 Web Summit, Krafcik dismissed Tesla’s plan for fully self-driving vehicles and deemed it “irresponsible”.
Let’s examine why the Waymo CEO isn’t onboard with Tesla’s autonomous vehicle plans.
Background to Waymo’s criticism
John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, the driverless car company owned by Alphabet Inc., has been very critical of Tesla’s approach in developing autonomous vehicles. In a speech delivered at the National Press Club Conference in March 2019, Mr. Krafcik warned companies about self-driving technology: “This is not how it works in the real world.”
Krafcik laid out his argument for why companies like Tesla are taking the wrong approach to developing driverless cars. He argued that companies must put safety first and foremost and be ready to take on years of development and testing before introducing any self-driving technology onto public roads. He took particular aim at Tesla’s decision to introduce Autopilot on its vehicles without first undergoing rigorous testing.
Krafcik also claimed that Musk’s statements about the speed at which autonomous vehicles could become activated were unfounded, accusing Musk of “putting people’s lives at risk with this irresponsible activity.” He argued that a safe driverless car would not be ready just yet, saying: “[Tesla] can’t have these marketing promises [about self-driving vehicles]. This is for everybody’s safety.”
Reasons for Waymo’s criticism
In recent interviews with The New York Times, Waymo CEO John Krafcik has detailed his criticisms of Tesla’s driverless vehicles’ development plans. He believes that Tesla’s strategy of launching self-driving cars onto the roads without properly preparing for safety risks is a clear risk to the well-being of passengers and pedestrians alike.
Krafcik points to several areas where he feels Tesla is not taking accountability for the safety of their ongoing projects:
- Tesla’s “feature complete” public software misleadingly implies that it will be safe to use, when in reality it still has too many unsolved problems that need to be addressed before they can be used safely;
- Tesla is bypassing regulatory oversight and avoiding testing processes typically required of safety-critical products;
- The company uses customer data as platform testing rather than going through more rigorous development cycles.
Additionally, he believes that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s statements about autopilot capabilities or issues with government regulations are irresponsible and could create incorrect expectations among consumers about the performance or reliability of their vehicles. He stresses the importance of having a responsible and transparent way for informing customers about what the technology can do, and how it should be used. Building on this notion, Krafcik further shares his opinion on underestimating safety measures: “This is not how it works.”
Implications of Waymo’s Criticism
In an interview for the ARK Invest podcast recently, Waymo CEO John Krafcik was critical of Tesla’s ambitious self-driving plans. He commented that “this is not how it works” and dismisses the idea that Tesla could be successful with self-driving technology.
This criticism of Tesla’s plans by Waymo can have a few different implications. Let’s discuss what those implications might be.
How Waymo’s criticism could affect Tesla
John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, has recently been critical of Tesla’s plans for self-driving cars and how the company is approaching their development. He called Tesla’s plan to achieve full autonomy by the end of the year “irresponsible” and stressed that it is unrealistic to think a self-driving vehicle can be perfected in only a few months.
Tesla must now consider the implications of Krafcik’s criticism as it could potentially affect public perception of the company and its self-driving plans. As Waymo is seen as an industry leader in autonomous vehicles, comments made by Krafcik carry significant weight. Therefore, if Tesla cannot show that their ambitious timeline for driverless cars is achievable, then public opinion could be affected negatively and hurt Tesla’s reputation.
In addition to the potential impacts on Tesla’s public standing, relevant regulatory bodies may likely become more involved in assessing safety standards for autonomous vehicles if skeptical views are pitched against major industry players such as Waymo and Tesla. Regulations regarding autonomous vehicle testing procedures will be further analyzed under heightened scrutiny with potential additional restrictions being implemented to ensure maximum safety. Questions have been raised about how much time each self-driving car should spend on public roads before taking passengers and what system features should be maintained while in service on public roads– making standards much tougher than when initially introduced by regulators earlier.
Ultimately, if Waymo’s criticism remains unaddressed or ignored by Tesla or other industry players developing their driverless cars, all developers of autonomous vehicles could pay a steep price with decreased trust from the general public who are concerned with safety first — driving down both perceived appeal and eventual market value when eventually released (if at all).
How Waymo’s criticism could affect the self-driving industry
Waymo CEO John Krafcik recently dismissed Tesla’s autonomy plans, calling them “irresponsible.” His criticism could have serious implications for the self-driving industry, particularly those focusing on autonomous vehicles.
The first implication arises from Waymo being one of the leading developers of advanced driver assistance systems, such as Autopilot. As a result of Krafcik’s criticism, consumers and automakers may look more favorably upon other companies that produce driver-assist tech as opposed to firms that are developing autonomous vehicles. In addition, by using proven and reliable technologies within advanced driver assistance systems, other firms may be seen as providing safer solutions to drivelines than purely self-driving approaches which may not be as experienced or tested technologically.
A second implication regarding market challenges for the autonomous driving sector can be seen. Krafcik’s comments highlight potential gaps in Tesla’s approach to self-driving technology. This could lead other automakers to become more reluctant to partner with Tesla on projects involving their Autopilot system–especially if Tesla fails to develop better solutions for its self-driving technology soon. Further, Waymo’s ongoing lawsuit against Uber over claims that it misappropriated trade secrets has kept it in the spotlight; this incident could serve as a warning signal to automakers who would otherwise partner with Tesla on projects related to its Autopilot program out of fear they will be held liable in similar situations down the line if they do not fully understand or adhere to their own research and development (R&D) proceedings related to the technology involved therein.
Therefore, Waymo’s CEO calling out Tesla highlights both how important effective innovation is for an emerging market such as autonomous vehicles and also how easily it can collapse without proper precautions being taken through R&D or partnering processes with reliable entities like Waymo itself which has been lauded as a leader in its field by many experts in recent years. Of course, it remains to be seen if any tangible effects will arise from Waymo CEO John Krafcik’s comments. Still, their existence shows potential risks within this rapidly expanding market sector.
Conclusion
Waymo CEO John Krafcik’s statements have placed a huge amount of scrutiny on Tesla’s self-driving plans. However, the facts suggest that Tesla’s autonomous vehicles are being developed without the necessary safety features, and therefore, Krafcik thinks Tesla’s self-driving plans are irresponsible.
The only thing that matters is the safety of humans and the technology should be built with that in mind.
Summary of Waymo’s criticism of Tesla’s self-driving plans
Waymo CEO John Krafcik recently dismissed Tesla’s self-driving plan, citing safety concerns. He remarked that such a plan would be “irresponsible” and stated, “this is not how it works.” His main concern was the lack of a suitable program or process for testing the system and Tesla’s failure to employ an experienced team to oversee its development and deployment.
Additionally, he questioned Tesla’s decision to release its Autopilot function publicly without proper evaluations by experts.
Krafcik also expressed concern about Elon Musk’s statements regarding Tesla’s full self-driving capabilities, stating that the technology isn’t there yet and shouldn’t be promised unless it can be reliably demonstrated. He further argued that his company has dedicated teams of engineers with decades of combined experience who have tested their autonomous vehicles in different conditions to ensure safety and reliability before they are released to the public–something he feels should be required by all companies releasing autonomous vehicles.
Final thoughts
It is clear why Waymo CEO John Krafcik believes that Tesla’s self-driving plans are irresponsible. Autonomous driving technology must be safely developed before it can be effectively and responsibly tested on public roads. The three main considerations that Tesla needs to address before its vehicles can meet the necessary safety requirements for consumer use are:
1) verifying the data inputs for autonomous vehicles,
2) ensuring a high level of system reliability and repeatability, and
3) minimizing risks associated with sharing infrastructure with human drivers.
Beyond these design considerations, Krafcik stressed the importance of involving human drivers in the development process so that they can better understand how their cars interact with a changing transportation landscape. He emphasized the need for extensive testing in unobserved situations, citing Waymo’s “rider-in-the-loop” tests as an example of how autonomous vehicle developers should prioritize safety and performance.
Ultimately, Krafcik’s remarks make it clear why autonomous vehicles need to go beyond Tesla’s initial plans if they are to keep passengers safe while reducing traffic deaths and congestion on our public roadways. To accomplish this goal, producers of autonomous technology must strive for accuracy and dependability while keeping an open dialogue between consumers, government regulators and other stakeholders. Only then can we have confidence that these self-driving technologies will responsibly benefit society.
About The Author
