Waymo

Waymo is the autonomous-driving company discussed in 132. 对星海图创始人高继扬的3小时访谈：鲶鱼、曾国藩、Waymo与Momenta的两面、一只狼与许华哲的离开 through Gao Jiyang’s work experience. The source presents Waymo as both an engineering “paradise” and an example of how a strong technical organization can still suffer from large-company drift when rapid growth lacks enough founder-like force.

别在国内卷了，去美国看看只要产品好就有人付费的市场 adds a consumer-market observation from Win’s U.S. trip. He says Waymo in San Francisco already operates without a safety operator, but is more expensive than Uber, while Tesla Robotaxi felt cheaper but remained safety-operator constrained in his experience.

Key Points

• Gao worked on prediction and perception at Waymo and collaborated with Zhao Hang on VectorNet-style map and trajectory representation.
• He contrasts Waymo’s robotics-style modular stack with Tesla’s more AI-native, data-driven autonomous-driving route.
• He says the Robotaxi business model itself was not wrong, but that the cycle is long and requires large-scale operational persistence.
• His later move to Momenta came from wanting to be closer to product, customer value, and company operation rather than continuing inside a mature engineering organization.
• The Win source treats Waymo as evidence that autonomous driving is moving from technical showcase toward city-level transport infrastructure, but still with pricing and operational tradeoffs.

Connections

• Gao Jiyang — engineer trained at Waymo before returning to China.
• Momenta — contrasting autonomous-driving company in the episode.
• Xinghaitu — later robotics startup influenced by lessons from Waymo and Momenta.
• Embodied AI and AI Plus Terminals — physical-AI context where autonomous-driving experience becomes relevant.
• Tesla — contrasting Robotaxi route discussed by Win.