Do self-driving cars need lidar? Musk says that cameras are enough, but most disagree. Tesla has staked its autonomous driving future on a relatively cheap solution: using cameras alone rather than a combination with the much more expensive lidar that its competitor, Google’s Waymo, employs to operate its self-driving cars.
US stocks slumped into the long weekend as the AI trade took a hit, with the S&P 500 ending August with its biggest daily decline since the first trading day of the month. Even so, the drop of 0.6% barely pulled the benchmark US stock index into the red for the week.
🧠 Pop quiz: This week’s Snacks Seven Quizcovers music, pop culture, fashion, and business news. Here’s a sample question:
Which is an actual solana-based meme coin that briefly soared before tanking when it launched last month?
Tesla has staked its autonomous driving future on a relatively cheap solution: using cameras alone rather than a combination with the much more expensive lidar that its competitor, Google’s Waymo, employs to operate its self-driving cars.
It’s a stance that puts Tesla at odds with most Americans, new data shows.
According to new survey data from Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report, some 70% of Americans said in August that autonomous vehicles should employ both cameras and lidar, while 71% said the government should require companies to use both.
Just 3% of respondents chose “autonomous vehicles should only use cameras” as the answer closest to their view. Tesla CEO Elon Musk would appear to be among them.
That said, the vast majority of Americans also say they wouldn’t consider riding in a robotaxi in the first place, with 41% saying they’d never consider it and another 28% saying they are not considering it at this time.
Tesla is hoping that by keeping costs low for its cars, which are just a fraction of the price of Waymo’s, it will be able to scale its autonomous ambitions much more quickly and cheaply, since it says pretty much any of its cars on the road could potentially be self-driving with updated software.
THE TAKEAWAY
Musk earlier this year predicted “millions of Teslas operating autonomously” by the end of next year. So far Tesla’s Austin robotaxi program, which doesn’t have a driver but does have a safety monitor sitting in the passenger seat, has about 30 autonomous cars on the road, while Waymo operates closer to 2,000.
Get a head start on investing for the future and turn today’s money into tomorrow’s wealth.
Every day, millions of investors are building towards their goals with ETFs like DIA - the only ETF that tracks the Dow. With DIA, you get 30 US blue-chip stocks in a single trade. The mega-caps that comprise the Dow Jones Index offer exposure to 172 countries and 160 different industries.
Whatever the goal, find out how getting there starts here.1
ZOOM OUT
Stories we’re obsessed with
The trade-down trade: Superstrong numbers from a few unsexy off-price retailers this earnings season (Kohl’s, Burlington Stores, Five Below, etc.) seem to suggest that consumers are shopping for lower-priced options rather than paying premium prices. As this chart shows, mentions of “trading down” in large-cap companies’ earnings calls are starting to spike. Read why these bargain retailers could be a potential trade opportunityduring a high-inflation, soft-growth economy.
Old people these days just don’t want to work anymore: While workers across all age groups left the job market during Covid, the 55 and older group never went back. This mass exit was first triggered by what economists call “excess retirements” from both lower-income workers pushed out by job losses and wealthier baby boomers riding the 2020-21 asset boom. For employees who aren’t retired yet, their expected retirement age is increasingly falling, as this chart shows.
But it wasn’t just Nvidia: the chip designer was one of 16 US stocks to trade more than the UK’s flagship index, including this database software company that isn’t even in the S&P 500.
Like Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum, Opendoor’s new interim leader, Shrisha Radhakrishna, is actively engaging with its retail investors, the “$OPEN Army”
Meta Superintelligence Labs is off to a rocky start
Tuesday: August ISM Manufacturing PMI®. Earnings expected from Nio, Zscaler, Signet Jewelers, and HealthEquity
Wednesday: July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Earnings expected from Salesforce, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Figma, Dollar Tree, Macy’s, Campbell Soup, and American Eagle Outfitters
Thursday: August ADP Employment, August ISM Services PMI®. Earnings expected from Broadcom and Lululemon
Friday: August jobs report
Advertiser's disclosures:
1 Before investing, consider the funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. To obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus, which contains this and other information, call 1-866-787-2257 or visit www.ssga.com. Read it carefully. Investing involves risk. ALPS Distributors, Inc. (fund distributor); State Street Investment Management Funds Distributors, LLC (marketing agent).
Was this email forwarded to you? Don’t miss out on future stories — subscribe to Snacks and get your daily dose of financial news straight to your inbox.
Craving more insights in your inbox? Subscribe to Chartr and The Wrap for quality reads.
Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more
