The following is a conversational co-voked. He is the president and the CTO of cruise automation leading an effort to solve one of the biggest robotics challenges of our time, vehicle automation.

He's a co-founder of two successful companies, Twitch and Cruise, that have e-sold for a billion dollars.

And he's a great example of the innovative spirit that flourishes in Silicon Valley.

And now is facing an interesting and exciting challenge of matching that spirit with the mass production and the safety-centric culture of a major automaker like General Motors.

This conversation is part of the MIT Artificial General Intelligence Series and the Artificial Intelligence Podcast.

If you enjoy it, please subscribe on YouTube, iTunes or simply connect with me on Twitter at Lex Friedman spelled F-R-I-D.

And now here's my conversation with Kyle Vogue.

You grew up in Kansas, right?

Yeah, and I just saw that picture you had hidden out.

There's some a little bit worried about that now.

So in high school in Kansas City, you joined Shawnee Mission North High School Robotics team.

Yeah, that wasn't your high school.

That's right. That was the only high school in the area that had a teacher who was willing to sponsor a first robotics team.

I was going to troll you a little bit.

Jog your mental a little bit with that kid.

I was trying to look super cool and intense because this was Battlebots, this is a serious business.

So we're standing there with a welded steel frame and looking tough.

So go back there. What is that jewelry to robotics?

Well, I think I've been trying to figure this out for a while, but I've always liked building things with Legos.

And when I was really, really young, I wanted the Legos that had motors and other things.

And then, you know, Lego mindstorms came out.

And for the first time, you could program Lego contraptions.

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