Zoox vs Nvidia
Recently got offers from Zoox and Nvidia in autonomous driving area. TC is comparable at about 300k. 4 years of experience. Which one is better in terms of career growth and future potential? Is Zoox stable? Amazon has layoff so wondering if that will impact Zoox as well. Also heard that Nvidia can be a mess within autonomous driving department. Thanks! #zoox #nvidia #engineering #software
Why are you leaving cruise? I'm interviewing them soon
Too many fires. Hard to have wlb there.
You have a MS/PhD, OP? I was looking at roles at both of these companies and that seemed to be what they were looking for.
Yes, I do.
PhD?
Are you getting L5 in zoox with 4 years of experience? They told me if you graduate from master degree between 3-5 years, your level would be L3
What percentage of you guys ended up at Ford and VW?
Lol
Yeah, I graduated with master degree. I’m getting L3.
Can you share the offer details? 300k for L3 is very good
Yes, Nvidia AV is a mess. But the tech is pretty good and lots of avenues of research and development. The scope is there. Enquire about the teammates in both companies. That will help you decide.
Nvidia >>>>>>>>>> Amazon / zoox espec with ML and self drive.
Zoox != Amazon. Zoox is a subsidiary with its own culture.
I think these are probably 2 of the better targets in AV (besides waymo as you’re probably aware) Zoox is quite safe and I’d argue the most safe in the industry. No outside investors, and maybe the best funding partner for funding + strategy. We’re also still quite inexpensive for where our tech is at and our target opportunity. NVIDIA has really high quality people AFAIK. They poached some really strong, long time Zooxers. Can you say what team you’re joining? Like everywhere it’s also slightly team dependent. Also target L4 if you can. They’re quite anal about leveling here
Probably the best option for you is Cruise. Might be better than these two. Having said that zoox is going to be fun moving forward. Some exciting stuff on the horizon
Exciting stuff coming? Isn’t that what all the AV companies say every year?
Why would this year be different
I’m also expecting an offer but for different role. Can you share the split in the TC?
Isn’t every AD dept basically a mess everywhere? In my view, whoever seems to have the most cash reserve to fund it or have enough vehicle partners (nVidia has three vehicle brands to support now) to get by, I’d take that as a stabler option if the overall money is the same Also are they for same job titles?
Yes, senior software engineer. I think Nvidia only focuses on L2/L3, but Zoox is targeting for L4. Not sure how it would affect future job switching and career growth. Assistance driving seems to be more narrow?
L2/L3 just means driver in the loop at times. There’s advanced functionality, like urban roads, intersections, sign detection etc