[2bitencryption]

from the article:

> but the short of it is that their unique system on wafer packaging and chip design choices potentially allow an order magnitude advantage over competing AI hardware in training of massive multi-trillion parameter networks.

I kind of wonder if Tesla is building the Juicero of self-driving. [0]

Beautifully designed. An absolute marvel of engineering. The result of brilliant people with tons of money using every ounce of their knowledge to create something wonderful.

Except... you could just squeeze the bag. You could just use LIDAR. You could just use your hands to squish the fruit and get something just as good. You could just (etc etc).

No doubt future Teslas will be supercomputers on wheels. But what if all those trillions of parameters spent trying to compose 3D worlds out of 2D images is pointless if you can just get a scanner that operates in 3D space to begin with??

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/01/juicero-s...

[arnaudsm]

The Juicero comparison doesn't hold up. LIDAR is 10x more expensive than RGB, but neither reach lvl5 at the moment. I'm glad multiple companies try multiple paths, it's the best way to avoid a research dead-end.

[KaiserPro]

> LIDAR is 10x more expensive than RGB

but pure RGB needs $millions to make a reliable realtime depth sensor, plus custom silicon and a massive annotated dataset.

It might just be that one company can do it, but its a hefty gamble.

[nightski]

Everyone acts like LIDAR is the holy grail but then why isn't there someone destroying Tesla with that tech? Waymo is not much farther along than Tesla, maybe even behind as far as miles driven.

If that was all that was needed then it would be done.