Why are corporate valuations so often equated to national GDPs (e.g., per the Atlantic, "OpenAI and Anthropic are valued at about $1.2 trillion combined—more than the GDP of Poland.")? This is like comparing apple trees to oranges.

"Tonight I’m grieving for Americans and for humanity." time.com/archive/6684...

Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tammy Duckworth, and Lisa Blunt Rochester asked me about the relationship between automated driving and:

* Data
* First responders
* Preemption
* Accessibility
* Competitiveness
* Employment

My answers are at newlypossible.org/files/2026Se...

Opening Statement of Professor Bryant Walker Smith for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s Hearing on Automated Driving (February 4, 2026) [Watch on YouTube] Thank you for your invitation. I’ll offer seven points. First: American driving is dangerous. Automated driving could help, if we’re careful about it. But people are dying today ...

Bryant Walker Smith @bwalkersmith.bsky.social urges caution on autonomous vehicles at Senate hearing, emphasizing US road safety crisis, company trustworthiness, local expertise, and avoiding federal preemption cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2026/02...

We rode in dozens of driverless robotaxis in China. They're far from perfect, but they're ahead of most of the world. Automotive and AI professionals share how to be a robotaxi tourist in China, including the apps to download and the best cities to ride in.

Want to ride a robotaxi in China? Sven and I explain how in www.businessinsider.com/the-ultimate...

NHTSA is seeking comment on the Global Technical Regulation (GTR) on Automated Driving Systems (ADS) developed within the United Nations system: www.regulations.gov/docket/NHTSA...

Generative AI image of a sign in front of amusement park rides that says "To ride you must be as tall as you are!"

Which is basically:

Some lengthier thoughts on Waymo's weekend traffic jams: cyberlaw.stanford.edu/on-waymos-tr...

(4/4) Matthew Wansley and I called for holistic emergency planning that accounts for drastic changes to road environments, loss of communications, overwhelmed remote assistants and retrieval crews, mass dependency on AVs, and AV-related obstructions (ssrn.com/abstract=559...).

(3/4) TTAC advised "scenario planning, break-the-glass plans for emergencies and other contingencies," and "analysis of the resilience of relevant transport systems, including ... potential skill or labor loss for evacuations and other emergency situations" (newlypossible.org/ttac/TTAC202...) and

(2/4) I have been pushing for four years to add a floor to the concept of "minimal risk condition (MRC)" in SAE J3016 (negrettilaw.com/news/autonom... and cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2022/01...) and

Waymo halts service during massive S.F. blackout after causing traffic jams Numerous autonomous vehicles caused traffic jams across San Francisco after a PG&E outage hit 1/3 of the city.

(1/4) Yesterday's Waymo jams (missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-w...) show *exactly* why:

California DMV's new automated driving proposal is a bit hard to find, so:

Notice: www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...

Article 3.7: www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...

Article 3.8: www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...

Statement of Reasons: www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...

Comment period ends December 18, 2025

Micromobility Vehicles in the Park “Micromobility” refers to a diverse set of transportation modes that, at least on the ground, fall somewhere between traveling by foot and traveling by car: “bicycles, scooters, electric-assist bicycl...

"Micromobility" has always been around -- but for far too long has been at both the literal and metaphorical margins of our streets: cyberlaw.stanford.edu/micromobilit...

bryantws on Sora Plaintiff was standing on a platform of defendant’s railroad after buying a ticket to go to Rockaway Beach. A train stopped at the station, bound for another place. Two men ran forward to catch it. On...

And here's Sora 2 on the facts as summarized by Cardozo: sora.chatgpt.com/p/s_68f6f312...

Automotive regulators and developers (including Tesla) recognize that "I am driving this self-driving car" and "I am driving this car that drives itself" are non-sequiturs:

papers.ssrn.com/abstract=563...

"Self-Driving" Means Self-Driving (draft article)

Three years ago I asked ChatGPT's image generator (née DALL-E) to illustrate the facts of the famous case of Palsgraf v. LIRR: ssrn.com/abstract=422...

Today, here's how Google's Gemini Veo interprets Judge Andrews's short summary of these facts:

Turquoise lamps on cars that cannot drive themselves Back in 2011, as Nevada was developing regulations for automated driving, there was debate about whether vehicles should have a special external signal to indicate that they are in automated driving m...

On turquoise lights on cars that cannot drive themselves: cyberlaw.stanford.edu/turquoise-la...

2022: "Parsing whether [human agents] are driving or merely assisting distracts from the more important question of whether the company itself is driving *safely* through its hardware and software, its employees and contractors, and its connections between them.
cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2022/05...

I was just thinking about what a thoughtful researcher you are!

Wondering how Alphabet's Waymo robotaxis compare with Baidu's Apollo robotaxis? My observations from San Francisco and Wuhan are at cyberlaw.stanford.edu/comparing-ro...

The US Department of Transportation has released the report of the Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee on which I serve as vice chair:

www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.go...

Our report makes numerous recommendations on AI, automated driving, project delivery, and innovation for safety.