{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-blog-post-js","path":"/blog/28-year-old-self-made-billionaire-started-his-self-driving-car-company-in-his-parents-garage-now-he-s-worth-1-6-billion/","result":{"data":{"site":{"siteMetadata":{"title":"No Frills News"}},"contentfulNfnPost":{"postTitle":"28-year-old self-made billionaire started his self-driving car company in his parents' garage—now he's worth $1.6 billion","slug":"28-year-old-self-made-billionaire-started-his-self-driving-car-company-in-his-parents-garage-now-he-s-worth-1-6-billion","createdLocal":"2023-07-25 14:31:04.705552","publishDate":"2023-07-24 00:00:00","feedName":"Autonomous Vehicle News","sourceUrl":{"sourceUrl":"https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/24/luminar-technologies-austin-russell-how-self-driving-car-tech-works.html"},"postSummary":{"childMarkdownRemark":{"html":"<p>When Austin Russell was a 17-year-old high school student, he founded Luminar Technologies, which makes laser sensors that can help self-driving cars detect nearby objects.\nNow 28, Russell is the world's youngest self-made billionaire, according to Forbes, as Luminar competes with major companies like Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo.\nBut self-driving cars aren't exactly commonplace on American roads, meaning Russell and Luminar have a lot of work ahead of them, despite their lofty valuations.\nHow it differs from Tesla's approachElon Musk's Tesla also seeks to popularize self-driving cars, and Musk's approach to the technology is entirely different.\nLidar could potentially change that, Russell says: Cameras can be helpful \"for certain use cases,\" but lidar is \"a huge step forward.\"</p>"}}}},"pageContext":{"slug":"28-year-old-self-made-billionaire-started-his-self-driving-car-company-in-his-parents-garage-now-he-s-worth-1-6-billion"}}}