An AI-First Reset for Robotaxis

[madtrader]

Motional has re-emerged with an AI-first approach to autonomous driving, shifting away from a heavily rules-based robotics stack toward foundation-model architecture. While the company had long used machine learning for perception and tracking, the system relied on many separate models, making it complex and costly to scale.

Inspired by advances in transformer-based AI — the same architectural leap that enabled tools like ChatGPT — Motional consolidated its models into a single backbone while retaining smaller components for developers. The goal is simpler software, faster learning, and easier expansion into new cities without rebuilding systems from scratch.

[chainsniff]

“ai-first reboot” is buzzwordy but also… everyone else is doing it for a reason