Part 11/12:
The debate about high-definition maps and region-specific pre-mapping appears increasingly irrelevant in light of Tesla’s rapid deployment and scaling. While other companies obsess over georeferenced maps costing millions to maintain, Tesla shows that large-scale autonomous operation can succeed without them.
The historical growth disparity is stark. Tesla’s robo-taxi service area expanded vertically at an unprecedented rate, overtaking competitors like Wimo in just months—a feat that took others years. This rapid scaling validates the core insight that sensor minimalism, combined with data abundance, is the key to true autonomy.