Podcast: The European Chips Act Is a Political Pipe Dream, Lacks Focus
There are several problems with the European Chips Act. They are characterised by a lack of focus that is manifested in many ways.
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Lisa Su: The Making of a Legend
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at Stake?
Lisa Su has masterminded a Steve Jobs-like turnaround at chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, cementing her iconic status in the technology world. At only 52 years old and almost one decade into her tenure as president and CEO at AMD, the questions come up: What will she do for an encore and where else can she make an even greater contribution in the electronics industry?
AV Hearing Sparks More Questions than Answers
What’s at stake?
Last week’s congressional hearing on autonomous vehicles (AV) exposed the limited knowledge among lawmakers on what automated vehicles are, let alone differences between AVs and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) — which look like disclaimers in the fine print for most people. The hearing could have used more discussion to clarify complex AV issues and elevate the debate beyond the talking points of special-interest groups.
TSMC Capex Splurge Will Stoke Glut and Other Problems
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at Stake?
TSMC will jack up capex up to 46% this year, building on huge increases over the last four years. Other chipmakers and foundries are racing to add new capacity, too. This is an extraordinary moment in the industry’s history and cooler heads need to prevail before the technology world ends up with manufacturing capacity surpluses that may take many years to absorb with indeterminable costs and other damages to the ecosystem. As the No. 1 global foundry, TSMC should provide the leadership required now by taking a leaf from its founder’s playbook; do not build to speculative demand.
The Unknowable Metaverse
By Girish Mhatre
What’s at stake?
The Silicon Valley hype machine is revved up again over the Next Big Thing, and this time that thing is the metaverse. But what is it, and when will it be here? Is the metaverse an inevitable, synergistic confluence of the irresistible forces of social connection, experimentation, entertainment and, crucially, profit? We won’t know for decades, but the early explorations of metaverse concepts raise some interesting questions on the nature of reality.
Pa. Bill Is a Gift to AV Firms
What’s at stake?
Rules of the road for driverless cars are framed, set and promoted by the autonomous-vehicle (AV) industry at the state level. Senate Bill 965, just voted out of the Pennsylvania State Senate’s Transportation Committee, is a prime example. The bill offers blanket authorization for testing and deploying AVs with or without safety drivers, establishing a playbook tech companies can use state by state to advance their agenda. Unintended consequences include exposing local communities to unnecessary safety risks, while leaving thorny liability issues to be settled in costly litigation, a burden that hits low-income populations hardest.
Where Are Robotaxis and Robovans Going?
By Egil Juliussen, PhD
What’s at stake?
The growth of ride-hailing services has made robotaxis the favorite opportunity for driverless vehicles. By comparison, fixed-route robovans have seen only moderate investments and limited startup activities. AVs for personal use have the most complex usage pattern and need much lower purchase prices. It’s instructive to take a closer look at key players, technology complexity, use cases, standards, regulations, AV hardware and software platforms in order to understand the lay of the land.
Is There a Business Case for Robotaxis and AV Shuttles?
What’s at stake?
The potential stakeholders in the emerging AV bus and taxi business are many, but thus far tech companies have driven the narrative, and a solid business case for robotaxis and roboshuttles has yet to be demonstrated. The good news is that robotaxi operators will have many knobs to turn as they fine-tune their operations. The bad news is it remains unclear how much fine-tuned market knowledge they already have. If they don’t have it yet, where they can get it?
Car Culture Morphs into High-Tech Car Dependency
What’s at stake?
The Ojo-Yoshida Report spoke with author Peter Norton to discuss his latest book, Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving. Norton, an associate professor of history in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia, coined the term Autonorama as a “technofuturistic” label for decades-old auto industry marketing that now promises a driverless future. We’ve seen this show before, Norton argues, and, as in the past, it won’t deliver safe, sustainable “mobility solutions.” The author pulls no punches in documenting decades of unfulfilled auto industry promises, tracing the history of car dependency and its transition to high-tech car dependency, and offers recommendations for more efficiently transporting people to and from their destinations.
Here’s our conversation with the author Peter Norton.
Read More »Car Culture Morphs into High-Tech Car Dependency
What Decades of Roboshuttle Misfires Teach Us
What’s at stake?
If you’ve been convinced that autonomous vehicles are the future for transportation systems, take a hard look at the humble roboshuttle, an early proving ground for AV concepts. Highly automated buses and shuttles have been around for a couple of decades, but few of those deployments have made it past trials to become sustained commercial enterprises. The self-driving van’s boxy build and plodding pace often get the blame for the riding public’s indifference. Unless developers and municipalities start paying proper attention to transportation market fundamentals, however, it may be naïve to assume that robotaxis will fare any better. We believe the chronic malaise of the roboshuttle business holds lessons for the broader AV industry.