Autonomous vehicle hype is back, and Humble Robotics is bringing it to freights | Equity Podcast

Introduction to Humble Robotics

• Humble Robotics is a startup that emerged from stealth in April with $24 million in funding, led by Eclipse, and is developing a fully autonomous cabless electric hauler to transport freight 10s.
• The founder and CEO of Humble Robotics, Al Cohen, has a background of working at several startups and has experience in the field of autonomous vehicles and robotics, having worked at companies such as Apple Special Projects, Auto, and Pronto 2m6s.
• Al Cohen has been in the Bay Area for 20 years, working on deep tech and physical AI, and has been involved in around seven or eight startups throughout his career, giving him a unique perspective on the industry 2m6s.
• The current state of the autonomous vehicle industry is reminiscent of the period between 2014 and 2019, when Al Cohen was working at Apple Special Projects and other companies, and there is a sense of hype and excitement around the technology 4m42s.

Background of Al Cohen and the Autonomous Vehicle Industry

• The Bay Area has a history of exciting and innovative industries, including electrification, which was a major focus in the area around 2007, with companies like Tesla leading the charge, and this has parallels with the current state of the autonomous vehicle industry 6m16s.
• The development of autonomous vehicles was motivated in part by the DARPA Grand Challenge, a competition that showed the possibility of autonomous vehicles, and this created a sense of excitement and momentum in the industry 8m30s.
• The development of autonomous vehicle technology has experienced a rise and fall in attention over the years, with many companies and investors initially showing interest, but then losing patience as the technology took longer to develop than expected 10s.
• The arc of autonomous vehicle technology is considered to be around 10 to 15 years, which is longer than people's attention span, and similar to the electrification of vehicles, which started in 2008 and has now become ubiquitous 42s.

Challenges and Cycles in the Autonomous Vehicle Industry

• Despite the fluctuations in attention, many founders and builders in the autonomous vehicle industry have persisted and continued working on the technology, with some companies imploding or getting acquired, but the founders remaining committed to the cause 2m6s.
• The problem of short attention span is more attributed to the investor community, which tends to chase the next new thing, such as crypto or AI labs, rather than the founders and builders who have stayed in the industry and continued to work on the technology 2m6s.
• The autonomous vehicle industry is a relatively small industry, and many of the people who have been in it since the beginning are still working on it, with the founders and builders grinding away to improve the technology, and investors playing their role in providing capital to support the development of the technology 4m30s.
• The expectations around autonomous vehicle technology are often unrealistic, with investors expecting returns within 3 to 7 years, but the development of harder technologies can take 15 to 25 years or more to come to fruition, and when it does, it often feels obvious in hindsight 6m30s.
• The hype cycle of autonomous vehicles in 2016 was fueled by automakers and other companies seeing the potential of the technology and throwing huge amounts of money at it, but they soon faced the realities of scaling the technology, which proved to be harder and longer than expected 8m30s.
• The experience of large OEMs and manufacturers fueling hype and then pulling out, leaving a trough of disillusionment, is not unique to the autonomous vehicle industry, as it happens in almost every new industry, where people get excited about new technologies and then lose interest when the excitement wears off 10s.
• The autonomous vehicle industry has gone through a similar cycle, with people being excited about the technology, but then facing challenges and setbacks, and it's only after a period of time, sometimes 5-10 years, that the technology starts to work and gain traction 2m6s.

Humble Robotics' Vision and Approach

• The company Humble Robotics is working on a cabless design for autonomous vehicles, specifically for freight, with the idea of creating a simple robotics platform to move freight from one point to another, and the founders believe that this design is feasible with current technology and regulations 42s.
• The concept of Humble Robotics is to create a platform that can move freight without the need for a human driver, and the company is exploring the possibilities of this technology, including the cost, state of autonomous technology, and rules and regulations surrounding it 42s.
• The founders of Humble Robotics have experience in the industry, with one of the co-founders taking a break from autonomous vehicles and then returning to participate in the company, and they are now starting to see the fruits of their labor after 10 years of working in the industry 10s.
• The concept of autonomous vehicles for freight is not new, as there are already smaller platforms in China and private port areas in the US, such as the Long Beach container terminal, where these platforms are used to move freight from crane to crane, laying the foundation for a business idea like Humble Robotics 10s.
• The idea of Humble Robotics is considered futuristic, with the goal of creating autonomous trucks, and the company has checked off key factors such as technological feasibility and a business case, which has attracted investors to fund the idea 1m42s.

Evolution and Feasibility of Humble Robotics' Technology

• Looking back 10 years to 2016, it is unlikely that the technology would have been ready to support the development of Humble Robotics, as the software and hardware, such as cameras and sensors, were not advanced enough at the time 2m6s.
• The development of Humble Robotics has been an iterative process, with the company trying, testing, and refining its technology over time, and today it has a better understanding of the state of the technology and where it needs to go 4m10s.
• Despite the progress made, there is still a lot of engineering work to be done to develop a "brain" for the autonomous vehicles, and the company is projecting and predicting the rate of improvement of AI models and their potential impact on the business 6m30s.
• Currently, Humble Robotics has technology that can handle relatively short routes, under 50 miles, in certain locations, and the company is working to improve and expand its capabilities 8m20s.

Advancements in Autonomous Vehicle Technology

• The development of autonomous vehicles has progressed from operating in sunny areas to tackling various weather conditions and scenarios, with the goal of improving the technology to make it more efficient and safe 10s.
• The intersection of business and technology is expected to drive the development of autonomous vehicles further, with the rate of improvement of the technology being a key factor in its success 42s.
• Vision language models are seen as a key factor in propelling the industry forward, with the potential to enable autonomous vehicles to operate using only cameras, similar to how humans drive 2m6s.
• The use of vision language models has been influenced by the work of companies like Tesla, with Elon Musk having proposed the use of cameras as a primary sensor for autonomous vehicles, and the technology has progressed significantly over the past 10 years 2m6s.
• Humble Robotics has experimented with pre-trained models, which have shown promising results in recognizing scenarios and objects, such as traffic cones and traffic lights, and has become bullish on the potential of vision models 2m6s.
• The company is not dogmatic about the technology used and currently employs a combination of sensors, including LAR, radar, and cameras, to ensure safety, but sees cameras and vision models as a key area of development 2m6s.
• The stakes are high in autonomous vehicles, and the use of redundant sensors is expected to continue until the technology reaches a point where it can operate safely and efficiently 2m6s.

The Changing Startup and Talent Landscape

• The startup scene is experiencing changes, with more people gravitating towards the space of physical AI, defense tech, robotics, and AI, making it a competitive environment for talent, but also providing a healthy industry for new graduates to join, with the talent wars being a constant presence in Silicon Valley 10s.
• The founder of Humble Robotics has a positive outlook on the growth of the industry, preferring engineers to go into robotics rather than B2B software products, and believes that the industry is drawing in new talent, including new graduates excited about robotics 2m6s.
• Humble Robotics was built by gathering a team of people who had worked together in the past, from seven different companies, and the company is now operating in a physical office space that was previously used by Cruise, a company that did a lot of amazing work in autonomous vehicles 4m42s.
• The company is experiencing a talent war, with robotics companies competing with autonomous vehicle companies for the same skill set, which includes applied AI, but the founder believes that by painting a vision for the company's future, they can attract people who want to participate in the industry's growth 6m42s.
• The use of vision models is an example of the overlap in talent between industries, as it can be applied to autonomous vehicles, humanoid robots, or drone inspection programs, making it a common talent that companies are competing for 8m10s.

Attracting and Retaining Talent in Robotics

• Entrepreneurs and founders often worry about finding the right talent, but encouraging people to get into robotics can help solve this problem, as it is a great time to be involved in the field 10s.
• Startups should focus on building a great company culture to attract top talent, rather than just offering competitive salaries, as many engineers have options and choose companies based on vision and culture 2m6s.
• Founders should prioritize creating a strong culture and being efficient, giving people responsibility and exciting roles, rather than trying to hire large teams, as this can be difficult to manage and is not always necessary 2m6s.
• Compensation is just one part of attracting talent, and startups should offer something unique to stand out, as top engineers often have many options and can choose from high-paying roles 2m6s.

Conclusion and Contact Information

• Listeners can connect with Humble Robotics online by visiting their website at humble robotics.ai, or by finding the founder on LinkedIn, and the founder is always happy to chat with excited people about the field 8m34s.