Episode 292 | Tier IV’s Open-Source Playbook for Scaling Autonomy Globally

Christian John, President, TIER IV North America joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how TIER IV is scaling open-source autonomous driving platform software globally. Tier IV is using the foundational elements of Autoware, an open-source autonomous driving software stack to build scalable, modular reference platforms for everything from robotaxis to autonomous buses and industrial logistics. This open platform approach allows multiple companies to collaborate, innovate, and distribute development costs across the ecosystem, similar to Meta’s open-source LLama model for AI.In Japan, TIER IV is experiencing particular success with autonomous buses in Japan, where they’ve secured approximately 50% of municipal contracts as part of Japan’s Mobility DX initiative addressing the country’s aging population and driver shortage.As autonomy scales globally, open-source autonomous driving software could play a vital role. It’s a role that TIER IV wants to play in the global autonomy market.Episode Chapters0:00 TIER IV Platform6:27 Open-Source Software8:25 Autoware9:52 Building on the TIER IV Platform11:52 Japanese Autonomy Market17:32 Nippon Steel21:46 Vehicle Platforms 23:51 Developing Public Trust26:31 Robotaxis31:58 Scaling in North America 36:00 Future of TIER IVRecorded on Friday, April 18, 2025--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Autonomy is transforming industries and creating an entirely new economy that we call the autonomy economy™. The Road to Autonomy provides advisory and market intelligence services that helps you better understand the market and stay ahead of what’s coming next. To learn more, say hello (at) roadtoautonomy.com.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.