From Models to Mobility: Building Waymo with Dmitri Dolgov

April 18, 2026

1:11

From Models to Mobility: Building Waymo with Dmitri Dolgov

Here’s a shocking truth: Waymo now delivers hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous rides each week. But reaching that level wasn’t just about making smarter models. Dmitri Dolgov from Waymo explains that it’s about building a whole system — training, evaluating, and deploying drivers in real-world chaos. It’s sensor fusion across LiDAR, radar, and cameras, plus advanced simulation and ‘critic’ AI models that help vehicles learn from mistakes. As Dolgov shares on the Cheeky Pint podcast, full autonomy isn’t just driver-assist — it’s a whole new level of complexity. And here’s where it gets wild — scaling that system globally demands more than just tech, it needs adaptable infrastructure. Recent AI breakthroughs are reshaping what’s possible — and the challenge now is making these systems safe, scalable, and reliable, not just in controlled environments but everywhere. According to Dolgov, the future isn’t just about better sensors, it’s about building adaptable systems that learn and evolve faster than ever, and if this pattern holds, the winners will be those who design for flexibility — no matter what’s around the corner.

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.

Resources:

Follow Dmitri Dolgov on X - https://x.com/dmitri_dolgov

Follow John Collison on X - https://x.com/collision

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Audio Transcript