I applaud George Hotz, will be cool to see what the end product will be like. Tesla seems pretty sure of themselves that he will fail, but I hope he'll prove them wrong.
This is more of a getting the facts straight than Hotz is gonna fail article. It's more like if Hotz is not gonna scale and stay by himself, he won't be able to compete.
Though I don't think that is the case, after yesterday's viral article, I'm sure as shit Hotz is going to raise VC fund and get a team going.
Hotz is a talented hacker. Tesla isn't into hacking. As pointed out in another thread, Tesla has engineering processes in place to finish off that pesky final 20% that seems to drag on forever... I am certain that Geohotz will get sick of this project and move on to something new once the hacking part is over and the hard part begins.
I'm a hacker too, so I can relate a lot. Hotz isn't the kind of person to start something and not finish it, esp after all this press..there's pressure now, I can def see the entrepreneurial side in him.
In the interview he said it himself, "I'm going to be the next billion dollar CEO". He finally built something that can be VC fundable and is legal enough to have ppl backing him.
But..you could be right too..it might just be a dead project soon (though I doubt it)
I think the series of < 6 month stints at various jobs indicates he's comfortable changing direction early if he's not happy with the situation. But it does seem likely that press like this will provide access to funding that a skilled operator could turn into a mature product.
Startups though..he is vowing he'll build something smarter than Mobileye..seems pretty likely he's going to stay for at least another year in this and more if it's not failing.
I think they're more concerned that he might almost succeed.
It wouldn't take many sensationalist headlines of crashes before a politician somewhere publicly "protects" their voters and the whole thing gets pushed back a decade.
You can see it in miniature today. This whole hoverboard craze has blown up (sorry) because of some dodgy wiring in some models. But when it comes to banning things, no-one's looking at the labels.
I also am rooting for the underdog. But the fact of the matter is, once a non-human component is found at fault for a fatal accident, it'll likely set the field back a few years. It's not about betting that he will fail, it's more about doubting that he can achieve the level of safety, by himself.
Given that in the US there is literally no level of safety which will satisfy even 90% of people, it's useful to have a bite-size entrant who can move fast and fail if needed.
Though I don't think that is the case, after yesterday's viral article, I'm sure as shit Hotz is going to raise VC fund and get a team going.