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Seven or eight years ago, anyone consuming business tech news might have come across the phrase “the race to build autonomous vehicles.” In private conversations, company execs and startup founders I spoke to sometimes referred to the commercialization of autonomous vehicle technology as “a race.” The phrase seeped into reporting at the time — including some of my articles.

What we’ve learned is that this is not a race so much as a long, curved, and fragmented road — one that looks more like the fan of an alluvial plain than a racetrack — to develop and prove the technology works a nd make it a profitable busin

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