Ford CEO Jim Farley says Waymo’s approach to self-driving makes more sense than Tesla’s

The comments are the latest indicators on the auto industry resistance to president Tesla CEO of Tesla El Musk for the lowest self-driving vehicles that only use video and artificial intelligence cameras-Musk eventually believes to pay and demand other car industries to license Tesla technology.

But Ford, the third automotive company in the United States, which plans to work with partners to integrate self -driving technology into its future cars, does not seem likely to license Tesla technology any time soon, based on Farley’s comments on Friday.

“When you have a brand like Ford, when there is a new technology, you should be really careful,” Farley said at the Asbin Ideal Festival on Friday. In reference to the laser sensors used by companies like Waymo, “Farley said, referring to laser sensors used by companies like Waymo. “We really believe that Lidar is important.”

An interview with Farli was conducted by Walter Isaxon, who published a biography on Elon Musk in 2023. When their conversation turned to autonomy, Isaxon asked Farley compared to Waymo and Tesla systems, and asked about the approach more logical.

“For us, and Emo,” said Farley. He pointed out that Waymo, owned by Google-Parent Alphabet, and Tesla “made a lot of progress” on self-driving, and Farley admitted that he had conversations with Elon Musk. But he mentioned that Ford considered that Lidar is an important part of the image, noting that “where the camera will be completely blind, he will see the Lidar system exactly what is in front of you.”

Tesla, which recently launched the Robotaxi service in Austin-with the safety passengers in the front seat-a “camera only” approach in its independent technology, which means that it does not use radar or Lidar technology “to see” the environment surrounding the car. This approach has attracted scrutiny throughout the industry from people who are wondering whether it is safe without repetition, even as Musk argues that it is more economical and performs well as well

“The problem with Waymo cars is that it costs more money,” Musk said during the quarterly profit call in April. “The car is very expensive, made in low size. Teslas may cost 25 % or 20 % of the cost of Waymo and make it in a very large size.”

Ford said it plans to partnership with a self -driving software company as soon as technology is further. While the company spent one billion dollars in following up its joint project with Volkswagen, called ARGO AI, Ford stopped financing the effort in 2022 and decided to follow the partnership model. Meanwhile, the company turned attention to its technology, “Bluecruise”, which is called a level self -driving system that allows drivers to get their hands out of the steering wheel on the highway but requires complete attention. Ford is still developing a more advanced system, which will allow drivers not to pay attention to certain times on the highway – but it said that it no longer has intent to build a completely independent system, from the fourth level, planning only to partnership with other companies that have it.

Farley said: “We decided, as a company, that a cooler problem than full self -rule in an urban environment was high -speed, and press a button and read a book in your car,” said Farley.