About this episode
<p>How a secret project at Google led to driverless cars on American roads. </p> <p><i>Freakonomics Radio</i> shares a story from our friends at <i>Search Engine. </i>(Part one of a <a href="https://freakonomics.com/is-this-the-end-of-driving/" rel="noopener noreferrer">two-part series</a>.)</p> <p> </p> <ul> <li><strong>SOURCES:</strong> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.alexdavieswriting.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alex Davies</a>, author of <i>Driven: The Race To Create the Autonomous Car</i>.</li> <li><a href="https://ir.aurora.tech/company-information/leadership-team" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chris Urmson</a>, co-founder and C.E.O. of Aurora.</li> <li><a href="https://investors.kodiak.ai/corporate-governance/management-team" rel="noopener noreferrer">Don Burnette</a>, founder and C.E.O. of Kodiak AI.</li> <li><a href="https://www.searchengine.show/" rel="noopener noreferrer">PJ Vogt</a>, reporter, writer, and host of the <i>Search Engine </i>podcast.</li> <li><a href="https://robots.stanford.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sebastian Thrun</a>, roboticist, C.E.O. of Sage AI Labs, adjunct faculty at Stanford University.</li> <li><a href="https://www.understandingai.org/about" rel="noopener noreferrer">Timothy B. Lee</a>, author of <i>Understanding AI </i>newsletter.</li> </ul></li> </ul> <p> </p> <ul> <li><strong>RESOURCES:</strong> <ul> <li>"<a href="https://www.understandingai.org/p/very-few-of-waymos-most-serious-crashes" rel="noopener noreferrer">Very few of Waymo’s most serious crashes were Waymo’s fault</a>," by Kai Williams <i>(Understand</i> <i>AI, </i>2025).</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/4bsso7B" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car</i></a><i>, </i>by Alex Davies (2021).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/darpa-grand-challenge-2004-oral-history/" rel="noopener noreferrer">An Oral History of the Darpa Grand Challenge, the Grueling Robot Race That Launched the Self-Driving Car</a>," by Alex Davies <i>(WIRED,</i> 2017).</li> <li><a href="https://www.understandingai.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Understanding AI</i></a><i>, </i>newsletter on Substack.</li> <li><a href="https://waymo.com/safety/impact/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Waymo Safety Dashboard</a>.</li> </ul></li> </ul> <p> </p> <ul> <li><strong>EXTRAS:</strong> <ul> <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-fascinatingly-mundane-secrets-of-the-worlds-most-exclusive-nightclub/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Fascinatingly Mundane Secrets of the World’s Most Exclusive Nightclub</a>," by <i>Freakonomics Radio </i>(2024).</li> <li><a href="https://www.searchengine.show/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i>Search Engine</i></a><i>, </i>podcast by PJ Vogt.</li> </ul></li> </ul><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>