Machine Learning Data for Self-Driving Cars: Shared or Proprietary - AI Trends

The crux of any machine learning approach involves data. You need lots and lots of usable data to be able to "teach" a machine. One of the reasons that machine learning has progressed lately is due to the advent of Big Data, meaning tons of data that can be readily captured, stored, and processed. Why is there a necessity to have an abundance of data for purposes of doing machine learning? Let's use a simple but illustrative example to explain this.