Your Uber Driver is Now a Toaster

Forget jetpacks—Silicon Valley gave us robotaxis. In this episode, Harry dives into Waymo’s generative AI gamble, Zoox’s Vegas rectangle-mobiles, Tesla’s endless “next year” promises, and why the streets are turning into a tech turf war. From safety recalls to data battles, from toaster-on-wheels jokes to the bigger question of who’s really in control, this is the hot take you didn’t know you needed on the future of driving.

Harry breaks down the chaos, the stats, and the absurdity of trusting a car that thinks more than it sees. Buckle up—your Uber driver may as well be a toaster.

Transcript

Harry: 0:00

So apparently the future is here, and no, it's not jetpacks, it's not teleportation, it's cars that don't want you in the driver's seat. That's right, robo-taxis are rolling into cities, and we're supposed to just hop in like it's not weird that there's no one behind the wheel. Today we're talking Waymo, Zoox recalls, Vegas, Elon Shade, and why Silicon Valley is obsessed with replacing Uber drivers with computers. if we have time, we'll spiral into space, AI, and whatever else this dystopian fever dream gives us. Stick around because this is not just about cars. It's about how tech keeps trying to outsmart humans, sometimes succeeds, sometimes crashes. Welcome back to another episode of Harry's Hot Takes. Hope you enjoy. So Waymo, I got into one of these cars the other day. And if you don't know, there's an app. You download it on the app store or on Android, whatever you want to do. And you click a button, you call a car. It's a little slower than an Uber, but it's a little cheaper and kind of more efficient. They are now experimenting with generative AI. They are still relying on their LIDAR sensors and their radar and cameras. However, they are experimenting with that and I don't like that. People think AI is magic, but in driving it can't just hallucinate. A fake stop sign would kill someone. So we're talking AI versus physical sensors, which is basically thinking versus seeing. And honestly, I don't know if I want to get into a car that is thinking. I wanted to see what is there and I wanted to sense it and avoid it. I don't want it to create a sixth finger or a sixth road, if that's how you want to think about it. But this really does tie into how AI is creeping into every corner of our lives. Not just essays or TikTok, but now cars and it's kind of scary. Speaking of, Zoox is launching a new car in Vegas, which is a steering wheel-less robo taxi. Amazon owns this company and they're offering free rides for now. But it's honestly the best place for them to do this. Vegas already runs on chance. So now you ride home is another gamble. But compared to Waymo, Waymo modifies existing cars. Zoox builds custom vehicles from the ground up. So I guess maybe they're a little more reliable and based on their own technology, which gives me a little bit of safety. But these things are shaped like rectangles. They're not even car shaped. So. It's a little bit weird to walk into one. Hopefully I can one day or hopefully not. knows? Vegas is becoming a weird tech testing ground though. They have drones for delivery now. The sphere, the Vegas sphere is blasting these AI visuals. And they're charging $200 for Wizard of Oz tickets, which is kind of insane to me. I don't know who would pay $200 for that. I'm sure the visuals are cool, but it's not worth it. And now they are having cars with no drivers behind the wheel. So pretty crazy. Studies show that Waymo's crash rate is 80 % lower than human drivers. That's 0.6 versus 2.8 crashes per million miles. But 544 automatic vehicle crashes were reported in 2024. That's about 1.5 a day. So scaling-wise, that means more accidents, even if the per-mile rate is lower. This also means that the more vehicles that are out there as Waymo expands or Zoox or whatever company you want to look at expands, there will be more accidents. And that's not necessarily between Waymo and Waymo. That's between Waymo and driver. And I do personally believe that that comes down to the fact that a driver cannot predict where a Waymo is going to go and a Waymo cannot predict where a driver is going to go. It can only see what's happening and avoid it. And if they do start including generative AI, then the Waymo is going to start taking guesses on where drivers are going. As much as I like AI, I don't like generative AI when it comes to cars. Waymo just expanded to Seattle though, they still have safety drivers behind the wheel just to make sure nothing goes wrong but... They did expand, so we're gonna start seeing more of those in different places. I don't think we'll ever see them in New York City, though. mean, that's way too hectic of an area for them to experiment in. Tesla's also promising RoboTaxis next year. That has been for the seventh year in a row, though, but we know Elon's been a little busy, so we will see what happens there. RoboTaxis are honestly the new app wars. Waymo versus Tesla versus Zucs. Or a new player. mean, we don't really know, but it's all about data. mean, whoever controls the driving data does control insurance, city planning, advertising. And that's another reason why I think it's impossible for this to happen in New York City. mean, there's so many regulations there. Then again, we have it in LA, but LA has been known for these experimental type things, delivery apps, now self-driving cars. So we will see what happens in New York, but I doubt it's coming to New York City anytime soon. especially considering there's a taxi union there. there was, even when Uber came out, there was a whole issue with getting Uber allowed in New York. Now, obviously, you can take an Uber anywhere in the city, but I don't think Waymo is coming anytime soon to New York City. whether it's medicine, cars. Doctors are already worried about chat GPT style tools, suggesting treatments. What happens when they start guessing what treatment someone should get? What happens when we start putting these AI tools in the operating table? I'm talking about generative AI which uses prediction models, not even sensing or using data. That's what I'm scared about. I think that whether it's cars or medicine, we have a big issue here. Anyway, Waymo is trying to combine AI with sensors. Zoox is letting people gamble on cars without someone behind the steering wheel. Safety does look good statistically, but perception is another beast. And competition is heating up. And it's honestly about who controls the data. But in the end, tech doesn't just want to change how we drive, it wants to change how we think about control. Cars, cities, even space, whether that's exciting or terrifying depends on how much you like giving up control. And I love SpaceX, I love what they're doing, but I'm not looking forward to the day where they start including this self-driving technology in the rockets, because you never know where that can go, especially if there's people in the rockets. I would not want to risk my life with that. But the question for you is would you ride in a car with no driver? This has been a new episode of Harry's Hot Takes. Thank you for listening. See you next time.