Tesla's AI Has Changed Everything w/ James Douma

[@farzyness]

James on X: x.com/jamesdouma

[@ev4k916]

Love the shirt James! 🤖 *Second to your opinions of course 😅

[@randyuno1453]

So greatful to hear from James again. Real treasure of knowledge. Great interview Farzard!

[@jimmanley2796]

“greatful” => “”grateful” 😉

[@banjofrailing3813]

James is a total home run! Great questions + great answers = out of the park session! Thanks All!

[@cybergigafactory]

Finally I have an hour of head explosive depth from James Dauma! He is the absolute best general intelligence I know!

[@1flash3571]

Yeah, he is one of those guys that can break it down for us at our level.

[@cybergigafactory]

@ absolutely! 👍 One of the first Tesla KZbinrs I knew where SMR, Warren Redlich and Dave Lee. The last one has introduced me to James Dauma and since than he is my absolut best source to understand FSD and AI as a whole!

[@davidkendall2272]

Thanks for having James back. His voice is so refreshing and interesting to hear his take on all things relative to FSD.

[@dennisjutzi7075]

Thank you Farzad what great insights from James

[@danfeeney956]

James! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and insight. I’m absolutely sure everyone here is praying for you and your family.

[@tlz8884]

Douma the goat 🐐 his explains stuff in a way that is easy to get.

[@samkaplan2482]

Thank you for bringing us more James 🙏

[@rubenperez4726]

this is better than Netflix

[@jockajocka]

@@rubenperez4726 I haven’t seen a movie in years. This is what I watch on my spare time.

[@ineumeyer]

Obviously this was going to be an awesome episode. Thank you for having James on. Best to James and his wife. ❤

[@goldreverre]

Regarding maps.. I could imagine Tesla building a "memory" into their system. Not specifically a map as we know it, but rather a memory of places or situations and how they were handled. It might even be self-building rather than curated.

[@howetyr]

Yes! This would be great! How do we get this suggestion to them?

[@roxter299roxter7]

I agree this is why the cars are going to be able to talk to each other. The map will be built up over time. I think they have already started.

[@dawn4077]

When you understand the world and create a map based on your experience to remember, it is totally different than the situation, when you barely know what you are doing and need a map to do enything. FSD vs Waymo.

[@aarontempleton2735]

The main reason I see for mapping is for route planning. Not really how to handle a given intersection. But rather to know that a wall or parked cars or whatever make for a blind unprotected left. Can you creep and take your chances? Sure. Can you redirect and go straight or right instead and find another way? Sure. But WE only do that once. Then NEVER put ourselves into that situation again by using waypoints or otherwise choose another route. Basically intersections/turns should have risk and delay ratings to affect routing.

[@kungfoochicken08]

@@aarontempleton2735Would work well for speed bumps and pot holes too.

[@hubertnguyen7485]

Yay!!!❤🎉 James is back! Added: So that’s why he’s been absent lately. Stay strong and positive James, we’re with you in spirit!

[@RSkala100]

Great interview, nice to see James again.

[@DQ-su6qf]

Great to see James again…The Dave & James interviews captured a unique point in time…Praying for James, Dave & Sam..

[@forester0936]

Thank you James! Love your insights. Best wishes for your family!

[@mksk84]

Really enjoyed the segment on the misaligned incentive system when it comes to innovation and how James related it to his deeply personal experience within the medical system. Sincerely wish you find peace James.

[@ianelliott8224]

James is an incedibly insightful guest

[@LiauJustin]

James - so well put starting at 59:38 and obviously rooting for Karen. Wishing you the best 🙏

[@teslamac5348]

Fazed and Hans host coffee with Douma. What a great way to spend a morning.

[@SolvingTheMoneyProblem]

The GOAT is back!!

[@darrylphillips6301]

Man go post our video for tonight😂😂 love all y'all's content, keep up the content though SMR💪

[@hsiaohu2959]

Kudos to James for recognizing Tesla’s mission of sustainability: “…technology is a force for good…”

[@1flash3571]

No..Technology is a Force...People can do bad or good. People using technology will do good or bad.

[@malcolmrickarby2313]

The hardest part for most people to understand is that it’s not about making maximum profit. Making money is a necessary side effect of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy. That is the mission! The future of life on earth is the purpose of the mission.🤔

[@kenkramer6761]

🙏 for James & Karen Great informative conversation as usual. Thank You

[@phxazcraig]

After a couple of days with v13.2.1, I also felt that we transitioned from a machine to a new type of brain. This is the first time I've seen AI actually feel/look/seem like an alien entity.

[@anthonybanayat9841]

James Douma is great at explaining what he knows about things - no matter the complexity while using layman’s terms and language.

[@oisiaa]

Most anticipated video of 2024!

[@philipcopeland3409]

Loved having James back. Perfect tonic for Xmas. I'd love to see James do a deep dive / walkthrough of his Chicago Robotaxi model. That would be a super interesting show Fazad!

[@gnschenker]

This was one of the better episodes. Very interesting insights indeed.

[@ChrisPrudhomme]

Should I be embarrassed to admit I got chills with that intro?

[@teslageek9257]

No. You should be embarrassed if you didn’t.

[@robertwoodhouse-bm7kt]

The recent videos of V13 in New York city will get the interest of NYC and they have already said that Tesla is welcome to start testing in NYC.

[@mikespence8895]

Those videos are amazing.

[@BLAISEDAHL96]

It’s also worth considering how Tesla has gone back to the drawing board in figuring out autonomy. They have reworked the software architecture who knows how many times, designed their own inference hardware & iterated on it a couple times. V13 is as James said “an evolution”. The approach behind V12 architecture is now solid enough to serve as the foundation that Tesla can now finally begin to improve. Crazy to me how people have complained about or doubted Tesla when for the past several years they have been trying to piece this massive puzzle together and haven’t been able to build on an unchanged base architecture for a couple years. Now it’s happening, prepare for massive improvements over the next 12-18 months.

[@klauskroker3925]

Thanks to all of you and best wishes to your family, James! All the best from Germany!🇩🇪

[@JLizard]

There is obviously immense technology on how the robots will interact and how data is connected, but the reasoning behind why this is good and why the manufacturing will be simplified is a no brainer. Move aside Santa, next year our Christmas gifts are coming in a robotaxi! 😁

[@charlesrovira5707]

@12:34 It's key to remember that _the map is _*_not_*_ the terrain._ _Maps_ are not instantly updated while _terrain_ becomes impassable the moment the bridge goes down.

[@chiefalien]

❤❤Simply great to have James back 🙏🙏🙏

[@bpassmore]

Why is no one talking about the impact of FSD on the handicap and Wheelchair mobility markets. My daughter is a wheelchair user, and at this point, we do not see a scenario where she will be able to reasonably drive herself. There are advanced driver systems that will allow her and people like her to drive, but those things are $100,000 or more. Yes, grants exist to help pay for that, but still there are many cases where she just should not drive. I hope someone starts talking about someway that either Tesla can make a wheelchair accessible vehicle that the passengers will not have to drive, or alternatively, license this technology to a company that’s forward, thinking enough to use it. One of the existing wheelchair, adaptive companies, such as Braun or VMI adding this to a Toyota Wheelchair modified van? I wish there was a way to get Tesla’s attention and show them that a market exists for vehicles that are very simple that will allow those who use wheelchairs to get around

[@clnelson321]

I think the RoboVan will have that ability.

[@bpassmore]

@ I’m hoping so. It’s the ramp entry that I’m concerned about. I wish there was a way to communicate to Tesla, because during the OEM manufacturing process, it would be relatively easy to include. But modifying one of these vehicles after the fact is expensive

[@gazmendqose8732]

James best wishes for your family . Thank you for everything you have done for the Tesla community and taking the knowledge and experience to make the rest of us truly understand what Tesla is developing here . I can honestly say that it’s because of your insight year ago in interviews with Dave Lee is what got me hooked on the technology Tesla is working and eventually go All In Tesla. 🙏💯🚀

[@TeamAgainstWild]

Great talk, with logic and forward looking possibilities.

[@margaretesulzberger2973]

1:00:46 - great examples from James Douma how Kodak, Xerox, and he himself invented disruptive things like digital cameras, personal computers and other advanced technology that would destroy their current business and therefore were held back. Conclusion: only start ups can disrupt industries and bring real progress and a better future.

[@oakfieldfarm4131]

I enjoy listening to James… He maintains a great balance between fact, detail, extrapolation and speculation whilst presenting it coherently, wrapped in an attractive layer of enthusiasm :)

[@teslageek9257]

Well said, he’s a brilliant sob 😂👍

[@oakfieldfarm4131]

Yes, that too 😂😂

[@shallenberger57]

I was outside the Park Meadows mall when the Tesla Crew drove the CyberCab into the mall for this weeks display. The person inside the car used a wireless joystick to manually drive the car into the mall. I will predict that ever CyberCab will have an option to be bought with a wireless joystick for low-speed maneuvering of the vehicle...

[@pazznecht]

Welcome back James! I have missed you a lot. 🤗

[@khuo0219]

Best wishes to James and Dave Lee and their families. And it is great to hear James talk so passionately

[@chrishipskind6203]

Merry Christmas and thank you so much for all the content you are creating, I really appreciate it.

[@BLAISEDAHL96]

Greatly appreciate James taking the time do do these talks.

[@ssanpeterson]

By FAR my favorite guest!! No question!!!!

[@teslabot5650]

Finnally. Been waiting for this!

[@jlf2221]

Thank James!!! Absolutely astounding information and thoughts! The best show you’ve ever done Farzad!

[@ronking8726]

Thanks to all of you. A wonderful discussion/ interview with James. A delightful knowledge voice of insight. God Bless all and Merry Christmas.

[@johnlynch5007]

Thanks for this guys. James’s stay strong thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

[@dr-k1667]

James is an awesome guest and the one person I really looking forward to hear their take on what is going on. No shade on the other guests (they have been great) but James comes at things from a different vantage point and I truly appreciate him.

[@regolith1350]

Thank you, James. You're the BEST guest ever! Every time I hear you talk, I gain so much insight. Best wishes to you, your wife, and your family!

[@bobbresnahan8397]

Thanks to James and very best wishes.

[@jonbecherer5103]

Thank you James. The bit about the timeline fog getting nearer was an incredible visualization.

[@Jdchin87]

Thanks for having James on the Pod! ❤🙏

[@liv2ska8]

This podcast has so much cool info. It's super food the tech brain

[@danvenning6279]

Farzad and Hans. James is a legend. This video moved me to tears. Even though I believed that Elon and the whole Muskonomy is a force for good in the world, James' explanation around disruption really hit home. Less money in the cure than the treatment. It has given me much to think about.

[@mattsenkow6986]

In my opinion, there is no ultimate cure for cancer-there will always be carcinogens and high-energy waves-but strengthening the immune system to kill off cancer is essentially the same thing. Look into immunotherapies! Good luck Karen

[@LarryH49]

There are many types of cancer. It is more likely that there will be tests that can indicate cancer at early stages. There is great progress in certain types of cancers such as some types of leukemia that have high survival rates compared to the 1960s. There may be better understanding of metastasis. A lung cancer that metastasized to other locations is treated as lung cancer. There are gene amplification indicators especially in breast cancers. There is a lot of ongoing research. I don’t anticipate a “cure” for cancer. Ending smoking would help a lot. There are other things that enhance cancer synergistically.

[@trengilly01]

Most shocking revelation in this interview is that 95% of people don't tip their driver. And of the 5% who do, most just give $1 😯

[@briansilver9652]

It is interesting. While the rider is a captive audience, maybe the car can present an opportunity to 'tip' a charity of their choice if they find the service outstanding.

[@loctobert9421]

Long waited, and finally❤

[@wysiwyg1]

Best of the Tesla bros. Great insights 🎉

[@endeuinable]

James is the rock star of Tesla FSD insight. Great to see him on the podcast again!

[@kurthui]

always learning great mind boggling ideas and facts from James! Best wishes for your family!

[@DenverTaint]

Watched the entire thing, love me some James explanations.

[@paulmcgreevy3011]

Cybercab could revert to picking up intercity journeys at a much cheaper rate overnight to minimise downtime. People will find it convenient to travel cheap overnight and sleep on the way avoiding the need for hotel accommodation.

[@margaretesulzberger2973]

I think your idea with overnight intercity journeys is quite amazing. But prices are quite high, even in the final best case scenario. So a night drive from Francisco to los Angeles would cost you 400 miles times 2.5 dollar equals $1000 at the start of Robotaxi ramp - according to James Douma. Some years later when TESLA dominates the business it may cost 400 miles times 1 dollar equals $400. And back another $400.

[@billhollis3697]

13 is really good, but. The car was driving me home and was trying to make a right turn onto a divided road and turned onto the wrong side (left, oncoming traffic side) while ignoring the large ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign. I had to hit the brakes, back up 10-15 feet and manually turn onto the right side. I was shocked. Each side of the divided road was a one way single lane road. This is the only mistake the new software made. Wow, it passed the correct lane and could not identify the ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign. This was at night, I will try it again.

[@shepherdsknoll]

I’ve been driving 13.2.2 for 3days, Tesla flipped the switch, FSD is no longer Level 2, it is easily Level 3 - Level 4.

[@Tramonti714]

James keeps the "BULL THINKING" on track!!! THANK YOU!!!

[@bobbresnahan8397]

Truly great discussion.

[@chlistens7742]

on maps they can use GPS location to load edge cases. for instance you don't need to know something specific in San Francisco if you are in Seattle.. but you may need to know there are speed bumps or crashes or construction on the planned route.. basically plan the route.. load any edge case in the planned and nearby route Knowing were speed bumps are is important, knowing a strange intersection is important, I also think they could use a car to car alerts like 2 miles ahead model 3 noticed this road condition.

[@martybosch8088]

Just took delivery on my new Model 3. The FSD is amazing. I just hit the mic and said FSD take me home.

[@mauricemeijers7956]

Awesome video guys. Many thanks ! Business case wise: I hope by then the energy prices have not skyrocketed.

[@floydb9100]

i told you bro, we needed Douma haha. glad you can make it happen

[@margaretesulzberger2973]

James Doumas calculation may be right when he talks about robotaxi being profitable with 1$ per mile. That would mean, that your daily 15 mile commute to work will cost you 30 $ per day and plus 600 $ per month. That may be too much for most working class people. Because of that the monthly costs for public transport is mostly below 100$ per customer here in Europe. And it’s a functioning, economical system, that Tesla is using as well at large scale to transport workers with busses and trains right before the factories entrance here at Giga Berlin/Grünheide. So even if you calculate without subsidies, busses and trains are the economically best way to conduct daily commute traffics. Plus you substitute with one bus more than 100 robotaxis.

[@patricksquires77]

I was waiting for the v13 then hit with below. “Internal short in AP4 Car Computer (Remove and Replace)” Doh! 😂 Hope they extend our trial 😅

[@ranig2848]

More of this please 🙏

[@ondramlcek3174]

James is wise

[@PeterTeehan]

I just got FSD 13.2.2 I've seen people with the .1 version and not sure there is a difference. The update just downloaded last night. I will be testing today because I'm heading to Denver to see family. 13.2.2 Colorado Springs to Denver testing. Not an easy task. People treat I-25 like Germany's Autobahn.

[@WeAreQuestionDutch]

Do we get a update if and how you arrived in Denver or if fsd agreed with the Autobahn reference and brought you all the way towards Berlin?

[@mikespence8895]

Update us!

[@PeterTeehan]

@@mikespence8895 Absolutely!

[@PeterTeehan]

@@WeAreQuestionDutch Oh for sure!

[@chrvids5846]

Is your version on cyber truck or model Y/3?

[@craiggordon8723]

Just like AI keeps getting better and better faster and fster, so does the quality of the information coming out thanks to great guys like you Farzad, James and Hans. Thanks guys for your very insightful questions, statements and thoughts. At the moment you're the best.

[@ryanwiebe6887]

2 questions: 1. How will robotaxi work with vacations? We usually live out of our vehicle and would be a pain to load/unload everytime we want to go somewhere. 2. How will robotaxi work with families? Do you expect the wife to install and remove carseats everytime they want to go somewhere?

[@skinnymoonbob]

Takeaway: massive scale fast once unsupervised is ready.

[@teslageek9257]

It’s all simultaneous 👍

[@InspireLifeGoals]

Excellent intro!

[@tonystorcke]

It only gets better. Today's FSD is like computers at 500 MHz.

[@bru512]

33:37 Amortization of cybercab per mile. $20k car/ 10 years/ 50k miles/year = $0.04/mile. If cars are just sitting around doing nothing it's insignificant

[@joastark]

40:00 I think Tesla will charge less if you give them more information up front when you order the taxi so it will be easier to plan for where the taxi will be and it state of charge at the end.

[@Warekiwi]

Another fascinating discussion!

[@robertgamble7497]

Since/if V13 is good enough to act on its own, then just let the neural net develop itself at least in simulations, see where it goes. Don’t put any limitations on it. Just let it do what it wants to do. By telling it what we think it should do is a limitation to what the net might be able to do on its own. If you put an experienced driver in an unknown situation, the experienced driver will be able to figure out how to accomplish the goal. Let the neural net do the same thing. Put it in an unknown situation and let it find its way out on its own.

[@herdyhely3496]

Love and best wishes to Karen and James!

[@germpharm]

This is one of my favorite Christmas gifts.

[@BLAISEDAHL96]

YES FINALLY JAMES HAS RETURNED

[@briansilver9652]

More wisdom from James. The point about robotaxis being 90% idle at the wee hours is missing a point. Electrical utility follows a similar supply/demand fluctuation. By increasing cost during peak hours and giving deep discounts off peak you can shift demand to keep the fleet at maximum utilization. Imagine having a cab pick you up at midnight. Have a nap. Wake up at your destination at 6 a.m. for real cheap.

[@vincewestin]

James is right that if you need human controls you do rides with the current vehicles. And then once you get robotaxi approval in a given market you add in (lots) of CyberCabs to that fleet.

[@MarcoTrillion]

Super exciting numbers! 😎👏🙏

[@walisantana]

I was dying to watch this full episode

[@thomaseaves6119]

I will happily never drive or even fly if I have the time to make the road trip. I’m here for it. 🎉🎉🎉

[@nowsc]

… appreciate the Eric Drexler nanotechnology gear picture on James‘s wall❗️😮

[@bnadeau73]

Hi Farzad, I really enjoyed this video with James Douma! I have a few questions: - Will Tesla initially focus on building its own fleet of Cyber Cabs rather than selling them? - Do you have any estimates on when it will be released to consumers? I'm planning to start a small-scale robotaxi business and aim to get in on the ground floor to maximize potential profits. Do you think it would be better to wait for the Cyber Cab, or should I get a Model 3 Performance and start operating it in NYC while I'm not using it (which is about 99.97% of the time)? Thanks for your insights!

[@tHebUm18]

1:23:24 I'd argue and even better case of an industry that outpaced the ability for even nation states to keep up is semiconductors. Taiwan has basically a monopoly, South Korea somewhat clinging on, and that's it. Even the US folded on being competitive at the cutting edge for manufacture (still leading for design).

[@chrvids5846]

JD should try some of the completely blind turns similar to the small narrow streets in Newport, Rhode Island like Kim Paquette did. That shows where we need this one last piece of the puzzle too solve looking around blind corners.

[@markbloxham1313]

That was fantastic, the answer is possible if you ask the right question Farzed!

[@talkingaboutdisruption9216]

My favorite polymath is back . Yeah!

[@royschering1140]

Got FSD V13.2.2 on my Cybertruck today. It worked flawlessly during my test drive. V13.2.2 is better than V13.2.1 (so far). I'm impressed.

[@michaelanthony4491]

Farzad love the content. Have had teslas for years have a cybertruck coming from a plaid. Only issue I see is it cannot hear. So police and ambulances it wont pull off to the side. Hopefully this will be addressed.

[@JohnSmith-x3y8h]

Hearing is described as ‘upcoming’ in the release notes for V13.2.1

[@gazmendqose8732]

You know the crazy part is thousands of people are watching this gem vs watching football right now 😆. I started when the counter was around 6800 views ☝️