Source: NYT > Business
The autonomous vehicle industry's most valuable IP—lidar sensors, computer vision systems, real-time mapping—is now finding commercial viability in warehouse automation, delivery robots, and industrial logistics rather than passenger vehicles, where regulatory and technical hurdles have proven far more durable than 2016's venture-backed timeline suggested. Companies like Waymo and Aurora are increasingly licensing their perception tech to robotics firms and logistics operators who face fewer safety certification requirements and fragmented regulatory landscapes than road-based cars. The marginal revenue per autonomous vehicle was never going to materialize on the consumer timeline. The winners are those who can monetize the underlying sensor and software stacks across dozens of narrower use cases.