Driverless

We flip the microphone on our podcast host Zachary Adams.  Miami litigator Francisco “Frank” Ramos, Jr., speaks with Zach on “A Conversation With,” Defense Research Institute’s podcast where Frank interviews lawyers about their practice.  Frank is a DRI member and a partner at Miami law firm Clarke Silverglate PA; he has written seven books about law and its practice and quickly digs into some of the most important questions about autonomous vehicles.  The format gives Zach the opportunity to step back from the detail we frequently cover to address big-picture questions about autonomous vehicles and the state of laws and regulations.  You also get to know Zach better.

Bart Kosko, is a Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering and a Professor of Engineering and Law in USC’s Gould School of Law. Kosko wrote the book on fuzzy logic and is an expert on neural networks. Jay Campbell, co-founder of Tucker Ellis’s autonomous vehicle and intellectual property group and an intellectual property trial lawyer, interviews Kosko. Jay and Kosko have been friends for many years going back to a case they worked on together nearly twenty years ago. Since then, Jay has tried several cases involving neural networks and fuzzy logic. Kosko is a fellow of the IEEE, a fellow of the International Neural Network Society (INNS), and a fellow of the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA).

Dr. Bart Kosko, is a Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering and a Professor of Engineering and Law in USC’s Gould School of Law.  Dr. Kosko wrote the book on fuzzy logic and is an expert on neural networks.  Jay Campbell, co-founder of Tucker Ellis’s autonomous vehicle and intellectual property group and an intellectual property trial lawyer, interviews Dr. Kosko.  Jay and Dr. Kosko have been friends for many years going back to a case they worked on together nearly twenty years ago.  Since then, Jay has tried several cases involving neural networks and fuzzy logic.   Dr. Kosko is a fellow of the IEEE, a fellow of the International Neural Network Society (INNS), and a fellow of the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA).

Chris S. Egner is a product liability attorney, and a member of the Global Expert Team, at Continental Tire the Americas, LLC. Despite having “tires” in its name, Continental provides a diverse range of parts and components to the automotive industry. Its approach to autonomous technology is similarly ambitious: rolling out a robotic delivery dog (ANYmal) and CUbE, the Continental Urban Mobility Experience, a driverless vehicle, for example. Chris’s responsibilities at Continental include risk assessment and case evaluation for complex product liability, asbestos, toxic tort, and automotive systems matters. She manages external counsel throughout the U.S. during all phases of litigation. Host Zach Adams, a litigator at Tucker Ellis, discusses Continental’s efforts to develop automated driving technology safely while navigating a challenging liability and regulatory environment. Chris’s role at Continental gives her a broad understanding of autonomous technology and legal liability.

Jay Campbell, intellectual property litigator and co-founder of Tucker Ellis’ Autonomous Vehicles and Artificial Intelligence Technologies group, interviews Dr. Bart Kosko. Dr. Kosko is a Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering and a Professor of Engineering and Law in USC’s Gould School of Law. Dr. Kosko is a fellow of the IEEE, a fellow of the International Neural Network Society (INNS), and a fellow of the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA). As will be discussed in future portions of this interview series, Dr. Kosko quite literally wrote the book on fuzzy logic.

Kristin Slanina, Chief Transformation Officer (and long-time automotive engineer), and Mohammad Hamid, Special Advisor in the Emerging Technologies Group, both of Thirdware Solutions, delve into the future of smart mobility with host Zach Adams, a litigator at Tucker Ellis.  Kristin and Mo recently presented on the “The Business of Mobility” at the Automotive Futures Conference.  They are key members of the smart mobility team at Thirdware, which is a long-time automotive IT company.  Thirdware helps traditional automotive industry participants acclimate to the changing industry landscape, as traditional automotive companies seek ways to expand their revenue sources. 

2019 is expected to be the year of the unicorn on Wall Street. A number of privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion are expected to launch initial public offerings in 2019. Lyft filed its S-1 registration statement to go public on March 1. Lyft has consistently lost money on operations, but its chief executive officer John Zimmer has long suggested that deploying autonomous vehicles will reduce their operating costs dramatically, leading to big profits. Lyft has started limited autonomous operations (level 4) in several cities, including Las Vegas. In addition to battling for market share in the United States, Lyft face strong competition globally since there are limited barriers to entry. Host Zach Adams discusses the future of autonomy and ride-hailing with a new voice, Raven Taylor, intellectual property lawyer Jay Campbell and business attorney Tod Northman.

We continue our interview with Professor Bryan H. Choi, who has a joint appointment to the Ohio State University College of Law and Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Professor Choi and host Zach Adams, a Tucker Ellis litigator, discuss allocation of liability for crashes involving autonomous vehicles, explore the data privacy implications of autonomous vehicles, then consider how to alleviate fear of technological risk, both real and perceived.

Jointly appointed in the Ohio State University College of Law and Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Professor Bryan H. Choi is uniquely suited to assess legal liability and regulation for autonomous vehicles. In the first of a two-part interview, host Zach Adams and Professor Choi explore how cyber systems disrupt legal systems, and in turn how legal constraints can channel and elevate the development of cyber systems. Professor Choi’s current work explores the interaction between the tort liability regime and cyberphysical systems such as self-driving cars.

California remains Ground Zero for autonomous vehicle testing, notwithstanding its regulatory scheme that requires companies that wish to test autonomous vehicles to obtain a permit and to file annual reports of “disengagements” experienced during testing. It’s a thoughtful approach that yields more information than the Department of Transportation’s “encouraged” annual safety report. Host and litigator Zach Adams discusses the just-released disengagement reports for 2018. With over 40 companies now testing, this is a rich field. We unpack the Apple disengagement reports in particular depth and chew on Timothy B. Lee’s provocative article about Waymo’s strategy. Finally, it has been a record-breaking month for autonomous vehicle companies with more than $1.6 billion raised in February 2019, and Tod discusses TuSimple and Nuro’s successful raises.