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A comment on A Pentagon-funded contest spawned many of today’s self-driving startups. Parent comment

Re:A Pentagon-funded contest spawned many of today’s self-dr... by jacquesm on Tuesday October 31, 2017 @03:36PM (#15595898)
Capitalism is a huge motivator by itself. Come out ahead of the competition and reap the benefits, it's a permanent contest. It's not without its downsides (externalization) but it definitely seems to move the needle.
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Re:A Pentagon-funded contest spawned many of today’s self-dr... by chiefalchemist on Tuesday October 31, 2017 @04:34PM (#15596303)
I think some (e.g., Koch Bros) would argue that we don't really have capitalism. That (too often?) Uncle Sam steps in and unbalances the market, often in favor of current winners.

A contest, equally open to all, certainly feels like an appropriate proxy.

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Re:A Pentagon-funded contest spawned many of today’s self-dr... by melling on Tuesday October 31, 2017 @04:10PM (#15596137)
yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best solution for all problems. Investors/founders want to have their exit strategy. We get a lot of “uber of”, etc, for example.

http://som.yale.edu/peter-thiel-yale-we-wanted-flying-cars-i...

The goal might not be a marketable solution but a step in the desired direction. I don’t know the limits of this type of prize but it’s worth pursuing:

https://www.xprize.org/about

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