The billionaire Bill Gates has something in common with Elon Muskboth believe in the potential of autonomous vehicles, those that drive themselves.
The Microsoft co-founder wrote a blog post entitled “The rules on the road are about to change”, where he explained his fascination with this type of vehicle.
Autonomous vehicles: not ready yet
Unlike Elon Muskwho has even advertised autonomous driving in his Tesla, Bill Gates believes that this technology has not yet matured sufficiently.
For the philanthropist, this technology will only reach the necessary maturity in about 10 years.
“When it happens, autonomous vehicles will change transportation dramatically like the PC changed office work,” he said.
Bill Gates wrote his reflections after testing an autonomous vehicle from British startup Wayve.
In a video on YouTube, you can see Bill Gates walking the streets of London.
“The car drove us around central London, which is one of the most difficult environments to navigate, and it was surreal how the car dodged all the traffic,” he wrote of the experience.
Bill Gates predicts that personal autonomous vehicles will be the last to arrive. He believes they will first reach the freight transportation industry (trucking and delivery), cabs, and rental cars.
Eventually, Bill Gates assumes that autonomous vehicles will be cheaper than “normal” ones, with the potential to help the elderly and those with disabilities. That said, they will be mass-market in “decades,” according to his projection.