Do Autonomous Vehicles Need LiDAR??- PART 2

In Part 1 (published 17/07/2021), I explored the parallels between the automotive LiDAR and telecom optics investment booms, and posited that going forward, consolidation and pivots for automotive LiDAR companies are inevitable. I got great comments from many people, thank you. I will try and address some of them here, a critical one being whether LiDAR is needed at all for AV safety. I feel that this issue is an important one to address before delving into LiDAR consolidation and opportunities, which is the subject of Part 2 (in progress). One writer commented that I had overlooked the fact that telecom relied on guided optics (over fiber) while LiDAR operates in free space, and therefore has other significant technical challenges.