# The System Behind Self-Driving: Waymo’s Dmitri Dolgov

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a16z-show-436525/the-system-behind-self-driving-waymo-s-dmitri-dolgov
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a16z-show-436525/the-system-behind-self-driving-waymo-s-dmitri-dolgov.md
Podcast: [The a16z Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a16z-show-436525)
Published: 2026-04-17T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/from-models-to-mobility-building-waymo-with-dmitri-dolgov-p2z80L_O
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/1344/afp-848985-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/3f86df7b-51c6-4101-88a2-550dba782de8/episodes/b3ac800f-ccb5-40d9-b6d5-c2a4754889ca/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=3f86df7b-51c6-4101-88a2-550dba782de8&awEpisodeId=b3ac800f-ccb5-40d9-b6d5-c2a4754889ca&feed=JGE3yC0V
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-a16z-show-436525/episodes/the-system-behind-self-driving-waymo-s-dmitri-dolgov
Duration seconds: 3841

## Resource

Waymo is now delivering hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous rides each week — but getting there required more than better models. It meant building a complete system for training, evaluating, and deploying a driver in the real world. In this episode — originally aired on the Cheeky Pint podcast — Waymo Co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov joins John Collison to break down how self-driving actually works today: from sensor fusion across LiDAR, radar, and cameras, to simulation, “critic” models, and the role of AI in decision-making. They also explore why full autonomy is fundamentally different from driver-assist, what it takes to scale globally, and how recent advances in AI are reshaping the path forward.

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