#241 – Boris Sofman: Waymo, Cozmo, Self-Driving Cars, and the Future of Robotics

Boris Sofman is the Senior Director Of Engineering and Head of Trucking at Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car project. He was also the CEO and co-founder of Anki, a home robotics company. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– LMNT: drinkLMNT.com to get free sample pack
– Athletic Greens: athleticgreens.com and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil
– ROKA: roka.com and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order
– Indeed: indeed.com to get $75 credit
– BetterHelp: betterhelp.com to get 10% off

EPISODE LINKS:
Boris’s Twitter: twitter.com
Boris’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com
Waymo’s Twitter: twitter.com
Waymo’s YouTube: www.youtube.com
Waymo’s Website: waymo.com

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: lexfridman.com
Apple Podcasts: apple.co
Spotify: spoti.fi
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: youtube.com
YouTube Clips: youtube.com

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com
– Twitter: twitter.com
– Instagram: www.instagram.com
– LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com
– Facebook: www.facebook.com
– Medium: medium.com

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:32) – Robots in science fiction
(13:13) – Cozmo
(38:28) – AI companions
(45:23) – Anki
(1:10:56) – Waymo Via
(1:42:34) – Sensor suites for long haul trucking
(1:52:30) – Machine learning
(2:10:26) – Waymo vs Tesla
(2:21:02) – Safety and risk management
(2:30:06) – Societal effects of automation
(2:41:11) – Amazon Astro
(2:45:35) – Challenges of the robotics industry
(2:50:03) – Humanoid robotics
(2:57:06) – Advice for getting a PhD in robotics
(3:04:37) – Advice for robotics startups
(3:15:43) – Advice for students