Anthony Levandowski buys Elon Musk’s vision for the future
Levandowski supports Musk's self-driving vision but questions timeline. Tesla shares fell 7% after the robotaxi reveal.
Anthony Levandowski, recognized for co-founding Google’s self-driving car initiative, expressed enthusiasm for Elon Musk’s forward-looking goals for Tesla and autonomous travel. He highlighted the challenges in making effective software for self-driving cars and pointed out the existing complexity of Waymo’s sensory-heavy approach. Still, he is hopeful that Tesla can develop affordable and effective self-driving technologies.
The engineer showed interest in the proposed Cybercabs, envisioning them as better suited for small business owners who could manage small fleets. Levandowski appreciates the business model focusing on distributed ownership rather than large corporate control, which he believes is preferable for the future. Yet, he remained skeptical about the feasibility of meeting Musk’s ambitious deadlines, citing previous delays to emphasize his point.
Levandowski also commented on the Optimus robots, reflecting a more extended timeline for seeing their full potential compared to self-driving cars. He believes that robots hold significant long-term promise but are far from becoming mainstream commercial products. Meanwhile, Wall Street's reaction to Tesla’s announcements was less supportive, with Tesla shares declining more than 7% following the event.