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a16z Podcast - Tesla's Road Ahead: The Bitter Lesson in Robotics

发布时间:2024-10-24 10:00:00   原节目
以下是对原文的翻译: 这期播客深入探讨了特斯拉近期“机器人”活动中硬件与软件的交汇点,以及这对自主性的更广泛影响,尤其是在机器人领域。 对话嘉宾包括Ubiquiti 6的联合创始人Anjani Meda和A16Z的投资者Aaron Price Wright,他专注于物理世界的AI。 他们分析了这次活动,辩论了埃隆·马斯克愿景的可行性,并探索了自主系统的更广阔前景。 特斯拉活动的初步反响总体上是积极的,小组成员强调了特斯拉对自动驾驶技术的持续承诺,尽管之前存在怀疑。 虽然有些人关注缺乏详细的工程规范(即“空头支票”),但其他人则强调了该公司在自主性愿景方面的持续进展和奉献精神。 讨论的核心是Rich Sutton的“苦涩教训”,该理论认为,利用计算能力和数据的一般用途AI方法最终会胜过手工设计的解决方案。 特斯拉的端到端深度学习自动驾驶方法与这一理念相符。 这次活动被视为普通消费者能够切实感受到未来自主系统不可避免性的时刻。 小组成员谈到了公众认知,指出Optimus的人形外观虽然在短期内可能不是最具经济影响力的,但其战略选择是为了引起人类的情感共鸣和文化参考。 他们指出,这次活动具有戏剧性,与典型的技术演示不同,展示了与严格的时间表脱钩的未来愿景。 演示的远程操作功能的令人印象深刻的质量(经常被忽视)也得到了强调。 随后,对话转向了软件与物理世界融合的更广泛趋势。 据指出,整合硬件和软件的技能存在短缺。 公司正在创建自己的随机库来连接到特定的传感器类型,这表明缺乏现有的丰富的工具生态系统。 特斯拉的一个关键优势在于其“全栈”方法,与将软件和硬件分离的公司相比,它可以实现更高的效率和垂直整合。 讨论涉及特斯拉为Optimus和Cyber​​Cab设定的雄心勃勃的30,000美元价格目标的经济可行性。 埃隆·马斯克可能正在根据人们愿意支付的价格来倒推成本。 有人认为埃隆的做法与SpaceX相同。 他在需要运营的成本约束范围内运营,即使市场的其他参与者告诉他这是不可能的。 定制传感器是最昂贵的组件,因此要尽可能避免使用。 一个关键策略是用软件解决硬件问题,而不是依赖非常昂贵的设备。 讨论还涉及在自动驾驶汽车中使用超额配置的计算能力进行分布式计算的概念。 埃隆·马斯克暗示了将这种分布式集群作为AI的AWS的想法。 尽管前景广阔,但在确保可靠性和成本效益方面存在挑战,相比之下,集中式云基础设施更有优势。 分布式云可能不可靠。 除了消费者应用之外,对话还探讨了自主系统在“不性感”行业中的机会,例如石油和天然气、采矿和国防,在这些行业中,人工成本高昂且危险。 这正是自主性和软件驱动硬件可以发挥作用的地方。 Aaron将自主性堆栈分解为四个关键层:感知、定位/地图绘制、规划/协调和控制。 这些层在以前就存在,但已通过AI的力量推向了新的极限。 每一层都提出了各自的挑战,但缺乏标准化工具以及公司需要从头开始构建整个堆栈的情况,为投资者创造了随着生态系统的发展而带来的有趣机会。 讨论了构建包含硬件和软件的系统所面临的独特挑战。 严格的时间表、供应链和质量检查都是硬件使任务更具挑战性的领域。 他们将其与软件进行了对比,在软件中,可以简单地再次尝试。 强调了硬件堆栈商品化和实现通用智能的重要性,以便将软件和硬件周期解耦。 圣杯是通用智能,它可以为人形机器人、机械臂或四足机器人提供无缝工作的模型。 一个关键的挑战是获取高质量的数据来训练这些模型。 现有的数据根本不够。 方法包括视频数据、模拟、远程操作和办公室中的机械臂,以及众包联盟。 特斯拉凭借其车队和自己的工厂具有优势,而其他公司则在探索数据合作伙伴关系和远程操作的使用。 讨论的结论是呼吁更多的建设者关注具有重大经济影响的“不性感”行业,并解决数据瓶颈问题。 非常需要初创公司找到管理数据的新方法。 本集始终贯穿的主题是,需要有才华的硬件和软件团队才能解锁这些各种解决方案。

This podcast episode dives into the intersection of hardware and software in the context of Tesla's recent "Robot" event and the broader implications for autonomy, particularly in robotics. The conversation features Anjani Meda, co-founder of Ubiquiti 6, and Aaron Price Wright, investor at A16Z focusing on AI for the physical world. They analyze the event, debate the feasibility of Elon Musk's vision, and explore the broader landscape of autonomous systems. The initial reaction to the Tesla event was generally positive, with the panelists emphasizing the significance of Tesla's continued commitment to self-driving technology despite previous skepticism. While some focused on the lack of detailed engineering specifications (vaporware), others highlighted the company's continued progress and dedication to the vision of autonomy. Central to the discussion is the "Bitter Lesson" by Rich Sutton, which posits that general-purpose AI methods, leveraging compute power and data, ultimately outperform hand-engineered solutions. Tesla's end-to-end deep learning approach to self-driving aligns with this philosophy. The event was seen as a moment where the inevitability of a future with autonomous systems became palpable for the average consumer. The panelists addressed public perception, noting that the humanoid form factor of Optimus, while potentially not the most economically impactful in the short term, is strategically chosen to resonate with human emotions and cultural references. They pointed out the theatrical nature of the event and its difference from typical tech presentations, showcasing a vision of the future decoupled from strict timelines. The impressive quality of the demonstrated teleoperation capabilities, often overlooked, was also emphasized. The conversation then shifted to the broader trend of software integrating with the physical world. It was noted that a shortage of skills for integrating hardware and software exists. Companies are creating their own random libraries to connect to particular sensor types, this indicates the lack of an existing rich ecosystem of tooling. A key advantage of Tesla is its "full-stack" approach, allowing for greater efficiencies and vertical integration compared to companies separating software and hardware. The discussion addressed the economic viability of Tesla's ambitious $30,000 price target for both Optimus and CyberCab. Elon Musk is probably backing into the cost based on what people are willing to pay. It was suggested that Elon is approaching this the same as SpaceX. He operates within the cost constraints he needs to operate within, even if the rest of the market is telling him it is impossible. Custom sensors are the most expensive component, therefore they're being avoided wherever possible. A key strategy is to solve hardware problems with software, and not rely on very expensive equipment. The concept of using over-spec'd computing power in autonomous vehicles for distributed computing was also examined. Elon Musk alluded to the idea of this distributed swarm as an AWS of AI. While promising, challenges exist in ensuring reliability and cost-effectiveness compared to centralized cloud infrastructure. Decentralized clouds can be unreliable. Beyond consumer applications, the conversation explored opportunities for autonomous systems in "unsexy" industries such as oil and gas, mining, and defense, where human labor is costly and hazardous. This is where autonomy and software driven hardware can be used. Aaron broke down the autonomy stack into four key layers: perception, location/mapping, planning/coordination, and control. These existed before but have been pushed to new limits with the power of AI. Each layer presents its own challenges, but the lack of standardized tooling and the need for companies to build the entire stack from scratch creates an interesting opportunity for investors as the ecosystem evolves. The unique challenges of building systems with both hardware and software were discussed. Hard timelines, supply chains, and quality checks, are all areas where hardware makes the task more challenging. They contrasted it with software where things can simply be tried again. The importance of commoditizing the hardware stack and achieving general-purpose intelligence to decouple software and hardware cycles was emphasized. The holy grail is general-purpose intelligence which gives models that can work seamlessly on a humanoid, a mechanical arm, or a quadraped. A key challenge is acquiring high-quality data for training these models. Existing data is just not sufficient. Approaches include video data, simulation, teleoperation and robotic arms in offices, and crowd-sourced coalitions. Tesla has an advantage with its fleet of vehicles and its own factories, while other companies are exploring data partnerships and the use of teleoperation. The discussion concluded with a call for more builders to focus on unsexy industries with significant economic impact and to address the data bottleneck. Startups figuring out new ways to curate data are much needed. The general theme throughout the episode is that it takes talented hardware and software teams to unlock these various solutions.