logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2024
48m 18s

Autonomy Across Air, Land, and Sea

Andreessen Horowitz
About this episode

2024 has been a milestone year for autonomous tech. 

Waymo’s fully autonomous driver has surpassed 20 million miles, while FAA approvals now allow commercial drones to fly without visual observers, advancing air autonomy in unprecedented ways.

In this special live recording from SF Tech Week, a16z partner Erin Price-Wright moderates a panel of experts from three key domains—air, land, and sea—to explore the latest real-world deployments of autonomous systems, the impact of new chips on cost and efficiency, building full-stack solutions, managing risk, and the evolving role of regulation in driving these technologies forward.

Joining the conversation is Macario Namie, CMO of Skydio, discussing the transition from consumer drones to enterprise and government use; Vijay Patnaik, Head of Product at Applied Intuition, who shares insights on developer tools and software for autonomous vehicles; and Peter Bowman-Davis, engineering fellow at a16z, diving into maritime autonomy based on his work at Saronic.

 

Resources: 

Find Macario on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/macario-namie-bb529/

Find Vijay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijaysaipatnaik/

Find Peter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-bowman-davis/

Find Erin on Twitter: https://x.com/espricewright

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Up next
Yesterday
Sam Altman on Sora, Energy, and Building an AI Empire
Sam Altman has led OpenAI from its founding as a research nonprofit in 2015 to becoming the most valuable startup in the world ten years later.In this episode, a16z Cofounder Ben Horowitz and General Partner Erik Torenberg sit down with Sam to discuss the core thesis behind OpenA ... Show More
48m 25s
Oct 7
How to Build a Real Estate Marketplace - Kaz Nejatian, Opendoor CEO
Opendoor is trying to make it easier to buy a home. Kaz Nejatian just joined as CEO to help them succeed.In this episode, a16z General Partners Alex Rampell and Erik Torenberg sit down with Kaz to cover all things real estate and marketplaces. They cover Kaz’s vision for Opendoor ... Show More
55m 44s
Oct 6
Can the US Beat China’s Engineering State?
From high-speed rail to electric cars to batteries to AI, it’s clear that China can operate with incredible speed at massive scale. Can the US still compete?We sat down with Dan Wang, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engin ... Show More
1h 3m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
Insights on AAM Autonomy from Automotive Part Two – Inside AAM
Autonomous advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles are a goal for multiple companies working in the sector. Some are planning to phase it in after using human pilots for some time, while others are jumping straight in to make AAM vehicles uncrewed from launch. In any case, making ai ... Show More
16m 11s
Apr 2024
Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving with Andras Palffy #45
Our guest today is Andras Palffy, Co-Founder of Perciv AI: a startup offering AI based software solutions to build robust and affordable autonomous systems. In our conversation, we first talk about Andras' PhD focusing on road users detection. We dive into AI applied to auto ... Show More
58m 12s
Oct 2024
Waymo’s Journey to Full Autonomy: AI Breakthroughs, Safety, and Scaling
In this episode of No Priors, Dmitri Dolgov, Co-CEO of Waymo, joins Sarah and Elad to explore the evolution and advancements of Waymo's self-driving technology from its inception at Google to its current real-world deployment. Dmitri also shares insights into the technological br ... Show More
44m 30s
Sep 24
AI's Next Frontier: Privacy-Preserving Neural Networks
Jimmy Secretan, CTO of JustWin, explores the latest innovations in privacy-preserving neural networks, and explains how JustWin is leveraging AI to help small businesses win government contracts. He also explores the future directions of AI, and the impact of AI on user autonomy ... Show More
36m 44s
Sep 29
China Has Mass. Can America Catch Up?
Ben, Marc, and Erik Torenberg are joined by Brian Schimpf, Cofounder & CEO of Anduril, and Chris Power, Founder & CEO of Hadrian. Together, they dig into America’s defense production gap: why the U.S. can out-innovate but not out-produce—and what it will take to turn that around. ... Show More
56m 21s
Sep 3
Live From Rare Evo: Algorand’s Roadmap to a Billion Users
Marc Vanlerberghe is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at The Algorand Foundation. In this episode, Marc discusses how Algorand is driving mainstream adoption of blockchain technology, decentralizing its network at record speed, and preparing for a future where billions of ... Show More
26m 16s
Jun 2025
Architecting AI-Driven Financial Systems: Innovation at the Intersection of Fintech and Emerging Tech
In this episode of the Data Science Salon Podcast, we sit down with Sasibhushan Rao Chanthati, AVP and Senior Software Engineer at T. Rowe Price, where he’s building the future of finance through intelligent, scalable technologies. Sasi specializes in creating secure digital ecos ... Show More
29m 7s
Oct 1
Live at Rare Evo: Stand With Crypto’s Grassroots Advocacy Is Shaping Digital Asset Policy
Elizabeth Hansson is the Michigan President of Stand With Crypto and Founder of the Detroit Blockchain Collective. In this episode she discusses the importance of grassroots activism in shaping digital asset policy, the challenges of educating lawmakers, and how community engagem ... Show More
22m 51s
Sep 2024
A Lessin In Gen AI with Sam Lessin of Slow Ventures | Okay, Computer.
Dan Nathan and Deirdre Bosa explore Amazon's strategic investment in Anthropic, the potential of Apple's upcoming AI features, and the importance of cloud service credits in AI investments. The regulatory challenges and future of TikTok in the US market are also scrutinized.After ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 17
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on self-driving's future, changing business model, job displacement
(0:00) Introducing Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (0:59) Uber’s self-driving business: partnerships, market size, LiDAR vs computer vision, safety, distribution (8:14) How self-driving impacts Uber’s business model over time (13:30) Other forms of transportation Uber could provide (1 ... Show More
25m 38s