CNET

I Rode in a Self-Driving Semi. Is Kodiak the Future of Trucking?

Kodiak is gearing up to deploy its fully driverless semi trucks on highways later this year, starting with Ikea. I took a ride to see the autonomous tech in action. Read more about Kodiak on CNET.com Ready for Driverless Trucks? I Took a Ride in Kodiak’s Autonomous Semi Timecode Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:33 Kodiak AI…

Published

on

Kodiak is gearing up to deploy its fully driverless semi trucks on highways later this year, starting with Ikea. I took a ride to see the autonomous tech in action.

Read more about Kodiak on CNET.com
Ready for Driverless Trucks? I Took a Ride in Kodiak’s Autonomous Semi

Timecode Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:33 Kodiak AI
1:22 Ride along
3:00 Interview Kodiak COO
3:30 Sensor pod
3:45 GigaFusionNet
5:18 Conclusion

Video Credits:
Host: Abrar Al-Heeti
Scripted by: Abrar Al-Heeti
Producer: Celso Bulgatti
Camera: Celso Bulgatti
Video Editor: Celso Bulgatti
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

#selfdriving #kodiak #semi #semitruck #autonomousdriving #autonomousvehicles

50 Comments

  1. @ryanmakers

    October 5, 2026 at 8:30 am

    The sooner the better for autonomous vehicles. When more of our vehicles drive themselves, removing the human factor, the fewer accidents we will see.

    • @DFS.RACING876

      October 5, 2026 at 12:54 pm

      😂 right
      Wait until ai take your job.

    • @ryanmakers

      October 5, 2026 at 1:07 pm

      @DFS.RACING876 I’m confident I’ll be fine.

    • @DFS.RACING876

      October 5, 2026 at 1:12 pm

      @ryanmakersok false prophet

    • @Neojhun

      October 5, 2026 at 3:06 pm

      @DFS.RACING876 That would be freaking amazing, doubt that could happen in my life time. Physical jobs are still massively difficult for AI.

    • @ScottNazareth

      October 5, 2026 at 7:35 pm

      Yup more job loss for people and more cameras on the roads to spy on you with its great isn’t it ?

  2. @Sibylle-p9v

    October 5, 2026 at 8:46 am

    Honestly it’s crazy that in this day and age, self driving isn’t that big of a deal. What would be more impressive IMHO is if the truck was electric. Why? Long haul trucks are responsible for about 3% of all the carbon dioxide emissions in the USA. To me, eliminating that would be more impressive than eliminating jobs held by truckers. ..

    • @paulstejskal

      October 5, 2026 at 3:19 pm

      Technology isn’t there yet. You got Elon and a Canadian company, and that’s about it IIRC. It’s not practical yet, but given some future iterations it could be.

    • @kpeterrafael

      October 5, 2026 at 4:18 pm

      BOT!

  3. @bitcoindaddy1

    October 5, 2026 at 9:17 am

    Self driving with diesel engine is a stop gap ..it doesn’t solve full automation and full autonomous

  4. @dpharr100

    October 5, 2026 at 9:53 am

    This’ll be great until Tesla puts them out of business

  5. @dpharr100

    October 5, 2026 at 9:54 am

    This is America. You don’t have to cover your freaking hair

  6. @ChristyMedia-b4x

    October 5, 2026 at 10:08 am

    That is very impressive, Also a very expansive ORVM 😊

  7. @Hakahori

    October 5, 2026 at 10:15 am

    why not use trains instead?

    • @bannanateam

      October 5, 2026 at 1:01 pm

      They don’t want real progress to occur in America.

    • @Neojhun

      October 5, 2026 at 3:02 pm

      Because they require RAIL.

    • @aw-2130

      October 5, 2026 at 8:53 pm

      We could improve the rail network for both freight and people. The whole car dependency is exactly why traffic deaths are high, not whatever lies this COO makes up.

  8. @Kevindevin7

    October 5, 2026 at 11:27 am

    Cool it can drive lol but can it deliver and back up and do all the HARD / friction parts of trucking?

    • @JustMe-dc6ks

      October 5, 2026 at 11:59 am

      Don’t know, but it doesn’t _have_ to to be useful. Could just have drivers at the end points to handle that.

    • @shutinalley

      October 5, 2026 at 1:24 pm

      You haven’t seen the robots? They’re going to automate everything

    • @Super_Tonester

      October 5, 2026 at 3:30 pm

      More jobs gone!

    • @aw-2130

      October 5, 2026 at 7:55 pm

      @shutinalley Can those robots clean up a tipped pallet?

  9. @English-learner-26

    October 5, 2026 at 11:33 am

    NO to hijab. Thank you but I’m not watching this.

    • @yass123

      October 5, 2026 at 8:40 pm

      Saeed is a Muslim name😂

  10. @booomanchu

    October 5, 2026 at 12:04 pm

    Hard Pass

  11. @central3425

    October 5, 2026 at 12:06 pm

    Kodiak sucks, the future of trucking is Edison Motors

    • @Neojhun

      October 5, 2026 at 3:06 pm

      WTF The two are not competitors. Kodiak Tech on Edison Trucks could be an interesting combo. They seem complimentary.

    • @EliHunt-so2qv

      October 5, 2026 at 5:39 pm

      Because what I’ve seen they’ve made a Kenworth c580 which is a modified Keller T800, but meant to go off-road. The only good thing about these Kodiak semi trucks is that unlike Aurora, these semi trucks do not have cameras and sensors on the outside of the cab. So what you get is a normal Kenworth t680 and a Peterbilt 567 like shown here in the thumbnail, and those big mirrors are where the sensors are mounted underneath them, but this won’t be a cost-effective way at all to move stuff.

  12. @GeektusMaximus

    October 5, 2026 at 12:31 pm

    How many Tesla semi’s are currently on the road? What percentage of all trucking? How can almost nothing be pushed aside. The Tesla truck, another Musk failure.

    • @Neojhun

      October 5, 2026 at 3:09 pm

      Far more Tesla Semi exist than Autonomous Semi Trucks. Not a good comparison in this case.

    • @GeektusMaximus

      October 5, 2026 at 3:19 pm

      @Neojhun A few hundreds of Telsa semi? A fraction of 1%.

  13. @wyaldkingdom

    October 5, 2026 at 12:38 pm

    I bet you prices stay the same or increase 😂$0 of savings will reach the customer. Just less and less jobs

  14. @danielosawaru9045

    October 5, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    This is bad for the job market.

    “Autonomous trucks can actually help with the driver shortage” .. how about making driving a truck actually good for the workers/drivers instead. Better pay, and healthy hours…

    • @darinherrick9224

      October 5, 2026 at 1:59 pm

      Well the truth is anything that can save money through automation will be automated. Jobs for the sake of jobs isn’t good.

      That said, everyone should get a basic income because there’s no need for everyone to work anymore.

    • @EliHunt-so2qv

      October 5, 2026 at 4:43 pm

      ​@darinherrick9224 NO, WE ARE NOT ALLOWING SEMI TRUCKS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVES TO TAKE OVER! And before you ask why, did you forget what those cars that drive themselves did the last time they were last heard of?!
      One of them ran a red light, one even drove into a flooded road in Nashville, Tennessee, etc.

    • @aw-2130

      October 5, 2026 at 7:58 pm

      ​@darinherrick9224 How much money are they paying for RAM?

  15. @skeletonghostcomedy4331

    October 5, 2026 at 1:00 pm

    I would like to know about the driver, how long he’s be driving and his opinions on how good the tech is currently, etc. P.S. Anyone keeping track of the “Autonomous Truck” there is also Aurora and Waabi… maybe Tesla Trucks but idk.

  16. @BigO1108

    October 5, 2026 at 1:04 pm

    Wow… future jobs are fueling semi trucks… that’s sure gonna pay great dividends

  17. @Amo-nt6jm

    October 5, 2026 at 2:18 pm

    Funny no one’s worried about that men that will be out of work and cant provide for his family. Its all company greed 👺👺👺

    • @AmazianLinsation82

      October 5, 2026 at 5:58 pm

      He will just drive the city street routes

  18. @MOTO_909

    October 5, 2026 at 5:19 pm

    If you don’t have a driver you don’t have driver rest periods and can run the truck all day and over night when there is less traffic. You can also stop to charge your electric truck for an hour because it’s not like the driver is itching to get back on the road where they make money by the mile not hours. Combined with wireless charging underneath parking spots and you would truly be autonomous outside loading operations at the distribution center and store. It doesn’t have to meet all needs to be useful for a lot of companies.

  19. @AmazianLinsation82

    October 5, 2026 at 5:57 pm

    I see these autonomous trucks like PCs. They are tools and will make transportation easier overall.

    • @ScottNazareth

      October 5, 2026 at 7:32 pm

      @AmazianLinsation82 So you want to see hob loss and more cameras to spy on everyone with ?

    • @aw-2130

      October 5, 2026 at 8:57 pm

      PCs only last 2-4 years. A truck and a human can last 20+ years.

  20. @JordanJordi-d4d

    October 5, 2026 at 6:02 pm

    Perception is the real bottleneck, not the algorithm. Rain, blown tires, debris, stranded vehicles. Curious how their validation handles the weird edge cases. I’ve been fighting sim-to-real transfer myself, so I know how ugly this gets.

  21. @ScottNazareth

    October 5, 2026 at 7:33 pm

    More job loss for people and more cameras for the cops to spy on you with. We will have no future in this country.

  22. @jogibajr

    October 5, 2026 at 8:14 pm

    “Move over, Tesla Semi “ is that a joke or what ? 😂 Diesel is dead meat in the future.

  23. @jogibajr

    October 5, 2026 at 8:21 pm

    PACCAR AKA dead meat soon . 😂

  24. @CNET

    October 5, 2026 at 8:33 pm

    Read more about Kodiak on CNET.com: Ready for Driverless Trucks? I Took a Ride in Kodiak’s Autonomous Semi

  25. @yass123

    October 5, 2026 at 8:43 pm

    Homeboy training his replacement 😂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending

Exit mobile version