When you think about the race to autonomous driving, it's easy to picture a showdown: Tesla vs. Waymo, with lidar makers like Ouster caught in the crossfire. But Angus Pacala, CEO and co-founder of Ouster, sees things differently. In an exclusive interview with MarketDash, he argues that Tesla and Waymo aren't competitors to his company—they're "pioneers in the adoption of Physical AI," and their aggressive investments are actually expanding the opportunity for everyone.
Ouster, a partner of Nvidia, makes lidar sensors and perception software. You might think that companies like Tesla, which has famously ditched lidar in favor of cameras, would be bad news for Ouster. But Pacala doesn't see it that way. He says the framing of a zero-sum race misses the bigger picture.
"We do not see companies like Tesla and Waymo as competitors but pioneers in the adoption of Physical AI," he told MarketDash. Instead of fighting over who wins autonomy, Ouster is focused on supplying the sensing and perception tech that powers a wide range of autonomous applications—from robotaxis to warehouse robots to smart infrastructure.
That's also why Ouster has teamed up with Nvidia. Pacala called Nvidia "an incredible partner," noting that Ouster's sensing platform is certified on both Nvidia's DRIVE platform for autonomous vehicles and its Jetson platform for robotics. But Ouster isn't putting all its eggs in one basket; it remains technology-agnostic across the broader autonomy ecosystem.
So what's Ouster's play? Instead of building the cars or the robots, it wants to be the platform behind them. Pacala says more and more companies are looking for a partner that can provide an integrated sensing and perception stack, rather than having to piece together lidar, cameras, and software themselves.
"Increasingly we are seeing companies who are building their autonomy roadmaps seeking a partner who can give them the platform and tools to build Physical AI solutions without having to reinvent the entire sensing stack themselves," he said.
This reflects a shift in Ouster's positioning. The company now describes its offering as a unified sensing and perception platform that combines digital lidar, cameras, AI compute, and perception software—not just a lidar hardware vendor.
Pacala also has a clear view on what will separate winners from losers in Physical AI. It's not about who has the flashiest demo. It's about who can deploy autonomous systems safely and reliably at scale.
"The opportunity for Ouster… is to make access to sensing and perception much more accessible to the broader ecosystem of Physical AI companies," he said, adding that the industry "will ultimately be judged by what works in the real world, that it is reliable and safe, and that it can be deployed at scale."
For investors, this offers a different lens on the autonomy race. As more companies pour money into autonomous vehicles, robotics, and intelligent infrastructure, the opportunity might not just be in the companies building the end products. It could also be in the companies supplying the technologies that make those systems work safely in the real world.
So while Tesla and Waymo grab headlines, Ouster is quietly positioning itself as the enabling layer for the entire Physical AI ecosystem. And if Pacala is right, that could be a bigger opportunity than any single robotaxi fleet.
