107. Mitigating High Emissions of Autonomous Cars

The Next Byte Podcast · 31 Jan 2023 · 23m

What this episode covers

Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss research from MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, led by Sumia Sudakar, Vivian Sze, and Sertac Karaman, which estimates that autonomous vehicle computing could generate emissions equivalent to all global data centers. The team proposes a cap of 1.2 kilowatts per vehicle’s computing system, requiring hardware efficiency to double annually to maintain carbon neutrality. The hosts argue for specialized, in-house chip designs and software optimization, citing Google Pixel’s camera strategy as a successful model for maximizing value from fixed hardware rather than chasing the latest sensors.

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