Elon vs Rivian: Cameras, LiDAR, and $200 Sensor Showdowns
In the tech-world soap opera of self-driving cars, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe dropped a bomb on the camera-only cult led by Teslaās Elon Musk. On The Verge's Decoder podcast aired Monday, Scaringe revealed LiDAR sensors now cost a mere few hundred dollarsāa bargain compared to ātens of thousandsā in previous seasons. He praised LiDAR for doing things cameras can't, which is kinda important when Teslaās 2019 Autonomy Day chief called it āfriggin stupid.ā Meanwhile, Musk blames āsensor contentionā for Waymo's highway no-go zone on August 25. Adding fuel, Fordās Jim Farley (June, Aspen Ideas Festival) called LiDAR āmission critical,ā especially when the sun acts like a villainous glare in camera lenses. If youāre confused, welcome to modern tech: same fight, new pricing drama.
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Rivian says LiDAR costs less than your artisan coffee now, but Elon Musk insists if you use anything besides cameras, you're just causing 'sensor contention.' Apparently, automakers arenāt just bad driversānow theyāre bad at agreeing on gadgets too.
Elon Muskās vision-only dream: because nothing says safety like ignoring a sensor capable of seeing what cameras canāt. Rivian just wants the whole sensor buffet and a side of clarity, thanks.
Between Teslaās camera zealots and Rivianās multi-sensor party, self-driving tech feels like a family argumentā'Dad says GPS is fake news, but we bought the map app anyway.'
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 10/7/2025 | Author: Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
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