The renegade whose dream started the latest space race

The renegade whose dream started the latest space race
by Vivek Wadhwa on 09-25-2016 at 12:00 pm

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin have grabbed the headlines in the space race, both of them building rockets and spacecraft. But there is fascinating backstory on how this race and the private space industry came into existence. It is the tale of a renegade entrepreneur, Peter Diamandis, who founded the XPRIZE… Read More


Apple, Google Go Home

Apple, Google Go Home
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-13-2016 at 12:00 pm

For some marketers the operative mantra is go big or go home. It looks like Apple and Google are both taking a harder look at the automotive industry and have decided to go home.

The media is rife with reports of Apple hemorrhaging automotive engineers while senior executives on Google’s automated driving team have been skipping… Read More


Car Sharing Contradictions

Car Sharing Contradictions
by Roger C. Lanctot on 08-07-2016 at 8:00 pm

  • Automotive News tells us that GM’s Julia Steyn, head of Maven, is thrilled with the early performance of this captive car sharing initiative, in comments yesterday in Traverse City, Mich.
  • Tesla Motor’s Elon Musk anticipates limitless demand resulting from car sharing and automated driving, speaking on the company’s Q2 earnings
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NTSB Entry Raises the Stakes of Tesla Probe

NTSB Entry Raises the Stakes of Tesla Probe
by Roger C. Lanctot on 07-10-2016 at 12:00 pm

The National Transportation Safety Board’s entry into the investigation of the first fatal crash of a Tesla Model S is a monumental turning point in the autonomous driving movement. While long-time observers of the NTSB note that it only gets involved in investigations where broader implications exist, the agency’s interest… Read More


The amazing artificial intelligence we were promised is coming, finally

The amazing artificial intelligence we were promised is coming, finally
by Vivek Wadhwa on 06-27-2016 at 8:00 pm

We have been hearing predictions for decades of a takeover of the world by artificial intelligence. In 1957, Herbert A. Simon predicted that within 10 years a digital computer would be the world’s chess champion. That didn’t happen until 1996. And despite Marvin Minsky’s 1970 prediction that “in from three to eight years we will… Read More


Democracy is a great thing, except in the workplace

Democracy is a great thing, except in the workplace
by Vivek Wadhwa on 06-19-2016 at 7:00 am

“The Soviet Union I left behind was a dictatorship but the workplace was a democracy; America may be free but the workplace is a dictatorship” said Len Erlikh after I hired him at First Boston (now Credit Suisse First Boston) in 1986. Being of the Jewish faith, he had fled the U.S.S.R.’s religious persecution.

Erlikh’s words have … Read More


Is GaN Disruptive? Revisiting the Criteria

Is GaN Disruptive? Revisiting the Criteria
by Alex Lidow on 06-07-2016 at 12:00 pm

In March 2010 Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) proudly launched our GaN technology at the CIPS conference in Nuremberg, Germany. Parts and development kits were readily available off-the shelf and therefore designers could immediately get started with a new state-of-the-art semiconductor technology.
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Future Connected Cars 2016

Future Connected Cars 2016
by Roger C. Lanctot on 05-15-2016 at 4:00 pm

There are times when a speaker for a large corporation clearly breaks from the cold corporate talking points and suggests something that you just know his managers will consider cringe-worthy. Haden Kirkpatrick, described on the event agenda of the Future Connected Car event in Santa Clara as “director of strategy and … Read More


Is Elon Musk from the Future?

Is Elon Musk from the Future?
by Roger C. Lanctot on 04-17-2016 at 10:00 pm

One of the more annoying (ie. delightful) things about Tesla Motors is the way the company casually disrupts long established auto industry business models. Whether it is vehicle sales and service or overcoming EV range anxiety or using your car to as an extension of the power grid or letting your car drive itself.

The latest twist… Read More