Well technically it's Lidar + Cameras + inertial measurement units + GPS + ultrasonic proximity sensors + Radar vs. all those things minus that one sensor that costs too much.
I agree with you. Tesla is far from perfect, and they make plenty of mistakes, but you can't deny that they basically built a car company from nothing in just a handful of years.
And if you take into consideration that they had to spend lots of time to make up for mistakes made along the way (Musk's infamous "we tried to automate too much" statements), that just makes it that much more impressive that they are where they are today.
Other commenters here are talking about how their famous difficulty in ramping up production or problems with sourcing parts as if it means there's nothing of value for someone to steal. But I just can't see that being true.
I can't see Tesla having absolutely nothing of value in their logistics processes at all. And if there is even one worthwhile thing, something they are doing right that others are hesitant to try, or can't do for other reasons, that's something that is very valuable to Tesla as a company.
I know software is a different area.. but such valuable secrets they started building cars in an open tent where the whole line could be videoed from the street...
This is sort of the exact opposite of patent trolls yeah? A patent troll sits on a patent doing next-to-nothing in order to hold on to their "extremely valuable" rights.
Tesla on the other-hand is executing on its patents so hard it doesn't even have time to try to protect them.
Perhaps their secret is _just doing stuff_, instead of, you know, _not_.
If thats the case, with my experience at San Francisco startups, there is a very real chance Zoox hasn't stolen the _valuable_ knowledge :P
Trade secrets are different than patents, you can use patents in open air and people can't take them, you have to publish the details to get the patent anyway (in theory). Trade secrets are lost if you exhibit them publicly.
