ClaimsRodney Brooks

“It is still shocking to see the autonomous vehicle promises that were being made for 2019 though 2022, just two years ago.”

Rodney Brooks, writing on X 15 July 2019 Post by @rodneyabrooks on X, 2019-07-15 (X)

Factual Technology

Around 2017, autonomous vehicle promises were made for deployment during 2019 through 2022.

Resolved true The record shows it happened or was so.

Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

What would count as true or false

Judged as of 2019-07-15. True: dated public statements from around 2017 (roughly 2016–2018) show carmakers, tech firms or their executives promising autonomous or self-driving vehicle deployment, sales or service launches in years from 2019 through 2022. Several such promises must be on record, from more than one organisation. Mostly true: such promises were made, but the timing slips slightly (for example, mostly made in 2016 or 2018 rather than 2017), or the target years differ a little from the 2019–2022 window. Mixed: only some promises fit the claimed window or date, or only one or two organisations made them. Mostly false: the promises from that period were vague aspirations, not deployment targets for those years, or they targeted clearly different years. False: the record shows no such promises were made around 2017 for 2019–2022.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (4)

  1. E1 GM and Cruise on track to field a self-driving ride hailing service by 2019 | TechCrunch TechCrunch · 30 November 2017

    “GM said that they can make it happen within two years, with a fleet ready to go to work by 2019 based on the company's current rate of progress.”

  2. E2 Ford will build an autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals by 2021 The Verge · 16 August 2016

    “Ford plans to build a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals by 2021, the company announced today.”

  3. E3 Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announces breakthrough technologies and partnerships to deliver zero-emissions, zero-fatality mobility at CES Nissan Europe newsroom · 6 January 2017

    “By 2020, Nissan and DeNA plan to expand the scope of their tests to include the commercial usage of driverless technology for mobility services in the Tokyo metropolitan area.”

  4. E4 Viewpoint: IPO Is First Stop for GM Self-Driving Unit IndustryWeek · 19 June 2018

    “While GM thinks it can have a self-driving taxis on the road by 2019, Ford is aiming for a 2021 debut.”

Reasoning

Dated reports from 2016–2018 show more than one organisation promising autonomous vehicle deployment in years from 2019 through 2022. In November 2017, GM said it could have a self-driving ride-hailing fleet ready by 2019 (E1, repeated in E4). In August 2016, Ford announced plans to build a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals by 2021 (E2, E4). In January 2017, Nissan and DeNA planned commercial use of driverless technology for mobility services in Tokyo by 2020 (E3). Together these meet the criteria's requirement of several promises from more than one organisation, made around 2017 for the 2019–2022 window.

Cite this claim

Rodney Brooks, “Around 2017, autonomous vehicle promises were made for deployment during 2019 through 2022.” (said 15 July 2019). Verdict: resolved true. Reliability API, claim c_a2880914ce7b, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_a2880914ce7b

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Rodney Brooks, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

More factual claims by Rodney Brooks

  1. Mostly true Factual 1 January 2025
    “Zoox has purpose built vehicles that have no steering wheel or pedals for brake or accelerator.”

    Zoox has purpose-built vehicles with no steering wheel or brake and accelerator pedals.

  2. Mixed Factual 29 September 2024
    “In the early days of robots for hospitals and for hospitality (i.e., hotels) and for managed care facilities for the elderly, it was first necessary to install Wi-Fi in the buildings as it was needed…”

    In the early days of robots for hospitals, hotels and managed care facilities, Wi-Fi first had to be installed in buildings so the robots could know what to do next.

  3. Mostly true Factual 29 September 2024
    “The Roomba was an easy sale, not just for its price, but because it did not demand that people had to install some infrastructure in their home environment before they could have a Roomba clean their…”

    The Roomba did not require customers to install any infrastructure before use; it needed only a standard electrical outlet for its charger.

  4. Mostly true Factual 1 January 2024
    “I did an analysis of the lack of videos showing any practical looking flights of any potential eVTOL solution”

    In late 2022 Brooks analysed the lack of videos showing any practical-looking flights of any eVTOL vehicle, despite multi-billion dollar company valuations.

  5. Resolved true Factual 22 June 2023
    “The long tail is not solved by learning, fire chief not happy with humanless vehicles in SF”

    The San Francisco fire chief is unhappy with driverless vehicles in the city.

All of them

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