Those Damn Self-Driving Cars Will Bankrupt Warren Buffet
The Google Car, coming to plunder Warren Buffet’s riches
Self-driving cars are the hot topic in the automotive and tech industries right now: Hollywood’s producing a comedy about them, Elon Musk is speculating that they’ll one day become the only legal way of driving, and now, billionaire Warren Buffet is wondering how much money the damn things are going to cost him.
Investor and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffet recently discussed the issue on CNBC, where he agreed that change is coming—for better or worse.
Related info: Japanese Automakers Combine Forces to Create Self-Driving Cars
“It will be a reality at some point,” Buffett said. “I think it’s a long way off, and I don’t think everybody will adopt it, but I think it will be a reality. And the truth is, if it’s a safer way of driving, it’s good for society and it’s bad for our insurance business. But that can happen.”
Pity Warren Buffet: he may see his $72.3 billion net worth take a hit.
However, Buffet does raise some interesting questions about the ethics of autonomous cars—like if a child runs into the street, would the car be programmed to kill the child or to swerve into oncoming traffic, potentially killing the driver and the car in the other lane?
There’s also an interesting possibility teased in the interview: that when self-driving cars become the norm, car insurance will be paid by the automaker, and not by the driver. When asked if he would be willing to insure car companies, Buffet replied, “At a price.”
Related info: Self-Driving Nissan LEAF Takes to Public Streets
Source: CNBC
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