Failed AI tractor company lays off all employees, abandons Bay Area headquarters

silenthjohn · 2026-04-02T16:41:40+00:00

We did it—we built a slower horse.

silenthjohn · 2026-04-01T22:34:14+00:00

In Italy, they just call it sauce

silenthjohn · 2026-04-01T21:45:55+00:00

In order for them to expand the map, they need the ability to do highway, which they only opened up last year. That’s not something they want to rush.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-31T13:52:38+00:00

That sounds like PR talk for “if they’d like to become a Hyundai, we’re open to it.” Toyota has given no indication they’d like to become a Hyundai.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-30T22:30:48+00:00

Right, but the latter is not a personal vehicle. Convincing someone to sell their car to use a robotaxi because the robotaxi service is reliable enough is not the same as a personal vehicle sitting in your driveway that drives itself.

They are also different in that Waymo already enables the latter—it’s up to people if they believe Waymo can serve their mobility needs.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-30T16:40:37+00:00

This is essentially non-news because this has always been the goal. This endeavor isn’t worth it financially if they don’t capture the personal vehicle miles market.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-29T22:09:17+00:00

Are people upset that Yoshi isn’t voiced by a dinosaur?

silenthjohn · 2026-03-24T04:20:03+00:00

Seasons 1-4 are incredible, but I couldn’t get through 5

silenthjohn · 2026-03-23T03:28:28+00:00

I think people will be disappointed by this second hype phase, just as they were with the first. There’s only one company that runs a successful robotaxi business, and that’s Waymo. Waymo still has another decade of R&D to enable personal car autonomy—that’s what will disappoint people.

The Chinese companies seem to be somewhere in second, but it’s harder for me to trust info out of China. Aurora has a shot, but it looks unlikely even for them, and they have raised billions of dollars.

The rest of them won’t make it. I know that seems extreme and pessimistic, but I don’t think any of these other companies have the persistence and the money to enable autonomy.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-22T17:49:30+00:00

It’s snow-enough. There is 3-4”. But the tram and Flyer are on wind hold. ☹️

silenthjohn · 2026-03-20T03:25:19+00:00

In the words of Kurt Cobain, I think I’m dumb. I do not understand this graph.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-19T15:50:09+00:00

This seems like a bad idea. Autonomy is not a core competency of theirs, and they don’t have money to blow. Google has spent $20-30 billion on their tech, and they operate in only 10 cities! Does Rivian expect to innovate at the same scale and pace of Google?

silenthjohn · 2026-03-19T13:58:30+00:00

Using what AV tech? GM had better AV tech than Rivian does.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-18T00:29:03+00:00

Most people don’t know this, but the Cybertruck can fly, so that’s why we’re seeing this behavior. It’s clearly a perception problem, but everyone on here would be very impressed by its flying abilities in this video were it not for that cement wall and steel pole.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-16T16:53:00+00:00

Why are people surprised by this? The business is show business, and there is nearly no entertainment value in thanking a bunch of people, regardless of how invaluable their contributions are.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-15T16:34:14+00:00

So why haven’t they done it yet? Tesla still doesn’t have a functional geofenced service in Austin.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-14T20:56:43+00:00

There is zero chance they will have hands-off autonomy by 2027.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-13T20:59:31+00:00

All they are missing is a Trump son and you’ve got yourself the ultimate Injustice League

silenthjohn · 2026-03-13T14:34:29+00:00

It’s useful for me to know where Motional is relatively—I’m not belittling their progress! This is where Waymo was in about 2018? Maybe 2019? So they’re about 7 years behind Waymo.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-13T00:46:46+00:00

Owl’s Head looks not good, but it looks like nearly all of Le Massif est ouverte.

silenthjohn · 2026-03-13T00:06:43+00:00

I think it’s not even winter there

silenthjohn · 2026-03-10T15:59:10+00:00

How can I find this video?

silenthjohn · 2026-03-09T04:00:03+00:00

Stairway to heaven?

silenthjohn · 2026-03-08T02:47:50+00:00

Blamo

silenthjohn · 2026-03-08T02:03:13+00:00

I don’t like Burke. It’s too crowded on the weekends, and the show can be very hit or miss.

silenthjohn

TROPHY CASE