The Road to Autonomy

Grayson Brulte

How would you feel if the transport truck beside you on the highway had no driver? Or the car passing beside you had no driver? Would it make a difference if the widespread deployment of autonomous trucks could ease supply chain problems almost overnight and that autonomous vehicles do not get distracted or speed? And would you feel better if you knew autonomous trucks and vehicles could reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent or more. Learn more from world's leading mobility experts on The Road to Autonomy®, an ahead-of-the-curve podcast hosted by Grayson Brulte.

  1. From Tracking Terrorists to Tracking Trucks: How a Former CIA Officer Built the Ground Truth Layer

    2 hrs ago

    From Tracking Terrorists to Tracking Trucks: How a Former CIA Officer Built the Ground Truth Layer

    Ryan Joyce, Co-Founder and CEO, GenLogs joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how the intelligence community’s playbook is being applied to trucking, building a ground truth layer for freight. For nearly two decades, Ryan recruited assets inside terrorist networks as a CIA case officer, validating in the physical world what sources claimed in the digital one. The trucking industry runs on the same data gap. Carriers self-report, telematics that can be modified, and bad actors claim trucks that are not on the road, with no one able to prove otherwise. GenLogs closes that gap with a nationwide network of privacy-enabled roadside cameras capturing just shy of twenty million images a day. The system uniquely fingerprints every truck in America and tracks it through changed DOT numbers, new decals, and swapped plates, exposing the chameleon carriers that burn down one identity and spin up another. That ground truth is reshaping how insurers underwrite risk, how brokers vet carriers, and how law enforcement recovers stolen freight. In one case, partial trailer data was enough to track and recover a trafficked minor. The same correlation engine now maps where every autonomous trucking company operates, which lanes they run, and whose trailers they pull. The future of freight will not be won by the operators who trust the digital record. It will be won by the operators who verify it against the ground truth. Episode Chapters 00:00 From Tracking Terrorists to Tracking Trucks 04:10 Building the Ground Truth Camera Network 07:32 The Verification Layer for Insurance 11:01 The Scale of Cargo Theft and Fraud 14:16 Anomaly Detection and the Intelligence Playbook 18:34 Combating Human Trafficking 21:41 Fingerprinting Every Truck in America 26:22 90-Day Snapshot of Six Autonomous Trucking Companies 34:48 Protecting High-Value Loads 41:13 The Future of GenLogs in an Autonomous Fleet 45:04 AUTNMY AI -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary applied intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    46 min
  2. Autonomy Markets: Is Waymo's Lead Becoming Insurmountable?

    3 days ago

    Autonomy Markets: Is Waymo's Lead Becoming Insurmountable?

    This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s widening lead, the Ojai (Chinese-made Zeekr robotaxi) rollout’s political fault lines, and the new Texas autonomous vehicle and truck database. Waymo is actively preparing to deploy a fleet of Chinese-made Zeekrs across California and Arizona, now renamed Ojai, in blue and purple states, not a red state, at least not yet. Sticking to his original call that the Zeekr is an unforced error, Grayson lays out the emerging split where Jaguars head to red states and Zeekrs head to blue and purple ones. With Magna now producing roughly 250 vehicles a month, Waymo is on pace for 6,000 cars by year-end, and Walt argues the real unlock comes when the sensor stack gets cheaper and Waymo begins to add more than 1,000 new vehicles a month on the road. In Texas, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles launched the Automated Motor Vehicle Lookup, where any member of the public can look up the fleet size of any AV operator in the state along with any complaints that might be filed. Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Walt discussed the launch of Wayve Labs, Zoox getting an undeserved pass thanks to Amazon and BYD’s willingness to compensate owners when God’s Eye is engaged during an incident. Episode Chapters 00:00 Waymo Deploys the Ojai 06:40 Waymo Production Math 08:55 Waymo's Expanding Lead 15:15 Texas Automated Motor Vehicle Lookup 25:00 Wayve Labs 32:10 3,760 Miles Across Canada. No Interventions. 36:15 Zoox Gets a Pass 39:15 Foreign Autonomy Desk 40:20 Next Week -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary applied intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    41 min
  3. Autonomy Signals: Figure AI Accelerates Commercialization, Stellantis Bets on Wayve

    5 days ago

    Autonomy Signals: Figure AI Accelerates Commercialization, Stellantis Bets on Wayve

    This week on Autonomy Signals presented by KPMG Grayson Brulte and Rob Grant discuss Figure AI’s first commercial humanoid deployment with Catalyst Brands, Stellantis L2++ partnership with Wayve, and Starship Technologies surpassing 10 million autonomous deliveries. Figure AI recently signed a commercial agreement with Catalyst Brands to deploy humanoid robots at a JCPenney distribution center in Reno, Nevada, integrating Figure’s humanoids into Catalyst’s Joey Pouch sorting system. As new management at Stellantis looks to turn around the global OEM, the company is pursuing a partnership over build strategy to accelerate their expansion into the L2++ market, with a targeted launch beginning with the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Then there is Starship Technologies, which recently surpassed 10 million autonomous deliveries with 3,000 robots operating across more than 300 locations in eight countries. The company says autonomous delivery is already $3 to $4 cheaper than rider-based models, with a long-term target of $1 per drop, though sustained profitability will require lowering the teleoperator intervention rate to near zero while navigating city-by-city municipal regulation. Episode Chapters 00:00 Signal 1: Figure AI Signs Commercial Agreement with Catalyst Brands 18:10 Signal 2: Stellantis Partners with Wayve to Deploy L2++ in U.S. 41:06 Signal 3: Starship Technologies Surpasses 10 Million Autonomous Deliveries 59:13 AUTNMY AI Autonomy Signals is presented by KPMG. -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary market intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Subscribe today: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1 hr
  4. Autonomous Mowers and the American Manufacturing Edge

    6 days ago

    Autonomous Mowers and the American Manufacturing Edge

    Michael Brandt, Co-Founder and CEO, RC Mowers joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss autonomous mowers and how they unlock scale for an industry that is labor constrained. In the landscape industry, turnover is structural, the work is hard, and skilled employees tend to stay away, making this an ideal industry to deploy autonomy that unlocks scale and frees up human resources to focus on the work robots cannot do yet. The perception stack on the autonomous mowers is LiDAR-first, enabling the mowers to operate day and night with equal capability. Airport operators were the first to recognize what that unlocks, deploying autonomous mowers at night when runways close, expanding the operational window on land that never stops needing maintenance. As private equity continues to roll up the landscape industry, the use of autonomous mowers is growing as they solve the labor problem and unlock growth that the old model cannot deliver. The future of autonomy in landscaping will not be won by the operators waiting for the price to come down. It will be won by the operators who are already three years ahead, deploying autonomous mowers today and building the next generation of the landscape industry. Episode Chapters 00:00 AUTNMY AI 00:36 Founding of RC Mowers 05:56 Landscape Labor Crisis 09:21 Autonomous Mower Stack 11:54 Deploying Autonomous Mowers 20:46 Autonomous Mowing at Airports 25:47 Autonomous Mowing 32:11 Private Equity Landscape Industry Roll Up 38:12 Autonomy-First Landscape Company 46:48 American Manufacturing in Green Bay 50:54 The Future of RC Mowers -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary applied intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    52 min
  5. Autonomy Markets: Waymo's Lead and Autonomous Trucking's Inflection Point

    23 May

    Autonomy Markets: Waymo's Lead and Autonomous Trucking's Inflection Point

    This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s undisputed global lead, the growing consumer-driven shift toward supervised ADAS (Level 2++), and autonomous trucking’s inflection point. After spending the week in Silicon Valley, Walt shared his on the ground observations amidst the backdrop of Waymo’s noisy week where the company paused service in several cities and temporarily shut down highway access. Even though Waymo had a difficult week, the company’s underlying position is unchanged, as they remain the undisputed global leader. Wayve announced a supervised L2++ point-to-point deal with Stellantis, indicating a potential pivot towards ADAS as a short-term revenue generator. Grayson views the broader growth of ADAS as being consumer-driven, with global OEMs looking to build their own version of Tesla’s FSD. Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Walt discussed London gearing up for robotaxis and the global growth of Chinese robotaxis. Episode Chapters 00:00 Walt's Silicon Valley Field Report 07:20 Why Tesla Won't Add LiDAR 11:05 Uber's AV Labs and the Data Question 13:13 ADAS Opportunity 18:40 Waymo's Noisy Week 23:45 London Further Opens the Door to Robotaxis 26:23 Build America 250 Act 29:44 Wayve x Stellantis 31:34 Foreign Autonomy Desk 34:44 Next Week -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary applied intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    36 min
  6. Autonomy Signals: Build America 250 Act, XPeng's Pure Vision Robotaxi, SMILE Reaches Orbit

    22 May

    Autonomy Signals: Build America 250 Act, XPeng's Pure Vision Robotaxi, SMILE Reaches Orbit

    This week on Autonomy Signals, Grayson Brulte and Rob Grant discuss the BUILD America 250 Act, XPeng’s mass-produced pure vision robotaxi, and the ESA-China SMILE mission reaching orbit. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen released the text of the BUILD America 250 Act, a bipartisan five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that includes the first-ever federal framework for autonomous trucks. The bill, if passed and signed into law in its current form, would provide regulatory preemption for autonomous trucking in the United States and authorize nearly $30 million annually through 2031 for workforce development grants. Over in China, XPeng’s first mass-produced robotaxi rolled off its production line in Guangzhou. The robotaxi is built on the company’s GX platform and features a pure vision system powered by their in-house Turing AI chips. Then there is the SMILE mission, a landmark collaboration between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences that launched on May 19 from Kourou, French Guiana, aboard a Vega-C rocket. SMILE carries the world’s first space-borne soft X-ray imager and an ultraviolet aurora imager designed to observe and predict the space weather events that disrupt the global navigation satellite systems that autonomous vehicles, drones, and maritime vessels rely on for centimeter-level positioning. Episode Chapters 00:00 AUTNMY AI 1:32 Signal 1: BUILD America 250 Act 37:39 Signal 2: XPENG Pure Vision Robotaxi 58:51 Signal 3: ESA/China SMILE Mission Reaches Orbit Autonomy Signals is presented by KPMG. -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary market intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Subscribe today: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 14min
  7. Autonomy Markets: Forget the Waymo/Uber News, Focus on the Nuro and WeRide Partnerships

    16 May

    Autonomy Markets: Forget the Waymo/Uber News, Focus on the Nuro and WeRide Partnerships

    This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s newly announced expansion ahead of the World Cup, the suddenly accelerating deterioration of the Uber/Waymo relationship, and the partnerships that actually matter for Uber’s autonomous future. As Waymo expanded their U.S. service area by 1,400 square miles across 11 cities, Uber continued to amplify both their direct and indirect attacks against Waymo in the media and in a self-published report about deploying autonomous vehicles. Even as the deterioration of the relationship spreads into the news, Walt notes that the divorce narrative is already largely priced into Uber’s stock, but the more interesting question is what happens next with Uber’s remaining partners. Nuro recently opened an engineering and partnerships office in Munich, home to BMW, with Lucid notably absent from the press release and personally-owned autonomous vehicles mentioned directly. On the WeRide earnings call, the company outlined European expansion plans including Slovakia and made the case for a unified Level 2 to Level 4 platform. Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Walt discussed Volvo Autonomous Solutions’ new Dallas-to-Houston lane and what the true definition of autonomous and what defines supervised. Episode Chapters 00:00 Waymo's World Cup Expansion 03:59 Waymo's Unforced Error 05:08 The Waymo/Uber Divorce Narrative Goes Mainstream 14:51 Nuro Opens Munich Office 20:26 WeRide Eyes a Unified L2-to-L4 Platform 22:47 Volvo Autonomous Solutions Dallas-to-Houston Lane 23:49 What Defines Driverless 31:39 Foreign Autonomy Desk 32:04 Next Week -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary applied intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    33 min
  8. Autonomy Signals: Uber's Policy Play to Slow Robotaxis, BYD's Costly Market Share Grab, Unitree Goes Sci-Fi

    14 May

    Autonomy Signals: Uber's Policy Play to Slow Robotaxis, BYD's Costly Market Share Grab, Unitree Goes Sci-Fi

    This week on Autonomy Signals presented by KPMG, Grayson Brulte and Rob Grant discuss Uber’s policy play to slow the deployment of robotaxis, BYD’s costly market share gain, and Unitree going sci-fi with a production-ready Mecha robot. Uber recently released a policy paper titled Unlocking the Promise of Autonomy that emphasized that the transition to autonomy should move slowly through a phased hybrid model where mixed fleets of human drivers and autonomous vehicles share the platform for years. The report appears to be a regulatory framework designed to penalize the autonomy-only business model currently being deployed by both Waymo and Tesla, positioning Uber’s hybrid approach as the only socially responsible path. In what appears to be a deliberate effort to slow down robotaxi deployments until Uber and their partners catch up. Over in China, BYD updated their Seagull EV with an optional God’s Eye system, a roof-mounted LiDAR with Level 2+ capabilities running on NVIDIA Drive Orin for a starting retail price of $13,000. This is the first subcompact vehicle in the world equipped with premium autonomous hardware at this price point, putting pressure on Western automakers to compete. But the price point comes at a cost, as BYD’s Q1 2026 net profit dropped 55% and operating cash flow collapsed 67%. Then there is Unitree, which launched the GD01 Man Transformable Mecha, a 1,100-pound, nine-foot pilotable robot that switches between bipedal and quadruped modes. Priced at approximately $650,000, the GD01 is a calculated engineering showcase flex ahead of Unitree’s anticipated Shanghai Star Market IPO targeting a $7 billion valuation. The launch of the GD01 Man Transformable Mecha signals China’s ability to rapidly prototype, commercialize, and scale embodied AI hardware at a pace Western competitors are struggling to match. Episode Chapters 00:00 AUTNMY AI 01:33 Signal 1: Uber's Policy Play to Slowdown Robotaxis 36:57 Signal 2: BYD's Costly Market Share Grab 55:41 Signal 3: Unitree's GD01 Man Transformable Mecha -------- About The Road to Autonomy The Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™. Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary market intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth. Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next. Subscribe today: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 10min
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Hosts & Guests

About

How would you feel if the transport truck beside you on the highway had no driver? Or the car passing beside you had no driver? Would it make a difference if the widespread deployment of autonomous trucks could ease supply chain problems almost overnight and that autonomous vehicles do not get distracted or speed? And would you feel better if you knew autonomous trucks and vehicles could reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent or more. Learn more from world's leading mobility experts on The Road to Autonomy®, an ahead-of-the-curve podcast hosted by Grayson Brulte.

Information

  • Creator
    Grayson Brulte
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    411
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 AUTNMY AI, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    The Road to Autonomy

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