Jan 2, 2019 · 40m · a16z
a16z Podcast | Airspace as the Next Internet-Like Platform
Eli Dorado · 10m spoken Sonal Chokshi · 9m spoken Jonathan Downey · 8m spoken Grant Jordan · 6m spoken Samuel Hammond · 2m spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this a16z podcast episode, industry experts and policy researchers explore how drone technology and airspace regulation are evolving into a major innovation platform comparable to the early internet. The discussion covers enterprise applications, empirical safety analysis, global policy arbitrage, and the future of autonomous aerial transportation.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. The host holds 26% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 4.0 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 1.7 The host pushing back 1.6
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 20:15 Jonathan Disagrees on Pure Deregulation
Jonathan explicitly dissents from Eli's suggestion that ground safety can be left purely to tort law, recounting a restaurant crash incident in Berkeley to argue for mandatory liability and registration mechanisms.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 31:18 Sonal Rejects Drone-Specific Privacy RulesSonal refuses the premise that new drone privacy laws are necessary, challenging the panel by arguing that existing legal frameworks like peeping tom statutes already cover these violations.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 27:20 Eli Models Drone Risk via Bird Strike DataEli presents a rigorous statistical breakdown of 25 years of FAA bird strike data, educating the panel on how a two-kilogram drone presents human injury risks only once every 187 million flight hours.
The host holds their own ▶ 14:17 Sonal Articulates Innovation ArbitrageSonal demonstrates strong industry expertise by mapping out how overly restrictive domestic drone regulations force technological innovation and economic capital overseas.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The host as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The host pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comparing Early Airspace Regulation to the Early Internet | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Sonal introduces the core concepts and clarifies drone definitions regarding waypoint autonomy. The guests elaborate on regulatory frameworks such as Section 333 exemptions and Part 107, while Jonathan gently pushes back on Eli's characterization of congressional initiative by citing industry lobbying. | |
| Industrial Applications and Creative Aerial Filmmaking | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The guests detail practical industrial applications such as cell tower and flare stack inspections, providing OSHA death statistics. Sonal steers the topic toward creative cinema applications, prompting a collaborative exchange about filming capabilities. | |
| Global Innovation Arbitrage and Registration Thresholds | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Sonal demonstrates strong policy expertise by delivering a passionate argument on innovation arbitrage and regulatory leakage, comparing strict US drone rules to early internet commercial restrictions. Samuel and Eli expand on flexible Swiss risk frameworks and the FAA's strict 250-gram registration threshold. | |
| Ground Safety, Registration, and Airspace Enforcement | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | Jonathan breaks consensus with Eli by arguing that pure reliance on tort law is insufficient, using a real-world crash anecdote to advocate for mandatory drone registration and identification. Grant outlines the gap between traditional military airspace enforcement and low-altitude drone security. | |
| Evaluating Aircraft Collision Risks Using Bird Strike Data | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Eli educates the panel on research comparing drone collision risks to 25 years of FAA bird strike data, concluding that a 2kg drone presents negligible risk to commercial aircraft. Sonal listens and offers lighthearted commentary on territorial birds and viral videos. | |
| Privacy Concerns, Technology Controls, and Airspace Law | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Sonal challenges the premise that drone-specific privacy legislation is needed, arguing that existing peeping tom and privacy laws already apply. The panelists agree with her framing that regulations should remain technology-agnostic. | |
| Emerging Trends: Drone Racing, Autonomous Transport, and Air Taxis | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | The panel discusses future trends including autonomous passenger air taxis, FPV drone racing, and supersonic travel. Sonal actively contributes technical insight by equating drone airspace identification nodes to internet IP addresses. |
Statements from this episode (17)
Dorado: Early internet program managers would have permitted commercial use initially
“If they knew where we were today, they would have allowed Commercial use from the inception.”
Dorado: FAA permanent commercial drone rules will be released in June 2016
“They're still not out, but they're coming. It'll probably be sometime next month. There will be some permanent commercial drone rules.”
Downey: The FAA granted over 4,000 commercial drone exemptions by mid-2016
“Yeah, so the section three 33 exemption process was created last fall, and now just, you know, nine months later or so, there's over 4000 granted exemptions in the U.S. For commercial use of drones across a variety of different industries”
Dorado: Hollywood film productions used commercial drones before it was legal
“What's interesting to me about the Hollywood application is that they actually were some of the earliest adopters, and they adopted it even before it was legal for them to do so.”
Jordan: Hollywood secured drone exemptions by repurposing manned helicopter safety manuals
“They paved the way for the use of drones in filming because they already had all of the safety procedures and flight manuals and things that they'd been using for manned helicopter shoots for years. So they literally just took those and shifted them over and, …”
Dorado: Fewer than half of US consumer drones were registered in 2016
“I think there's something like a million plus consumer drones, and only 400,000 have registered.”
Dorado: Under federal statute, paper airplanes are legally classified as aircraft
“Under federal statute, paper airplanes are aircraft.”
Jordan: Drones render traditional physical security fence heights completely obsolete
“Now that you have drones you know, an eight foot fence versus a 20 foot fence versus a two foot fence, it's pretty much equivalent. Doesn't really matter. You know, you can fly your drone over and deliver your contraband kind of regardless of the height of the…”
Jordan: The 30-mile radius around Washington D.C. is a no-drone zone
“Anyone flying a drone right now within a 30 mile radius of Washington, D.C., right? Right now, in order to do that, you need to essentially override those controls because that 30 mile radius is a no drone zone.”
Dorado: A two-kilogram drone causes human injury once per 187M flight hours
“And for a two kilogram drone, I think we found that there might be a human injury once every hundred eighty seven million years.”
Dorado: Drone collision risk with commercial jets is once per 41B hours
“And then if you look at commercial jets, it's even smaller. I mean, it's, I think I got, I think the last number that we got was forty one billion years of continuous operation which is, you know, three times the Age of the universe.”
Downey: Tech controls will overcome drone privacy concerns just as with GPS
“I think that the same thing is playing out here with drone use, which is to say, yes, this is a technology that could be used to invade people's privacy, but with some basically, you know, technology controls on it can also add a tremendous amount of value to …”
Downey: Privacy laws should be technology-agnostic regardless of whether drones are used
“These types of laws should be technology agnostic. Shouldn't matter whether it's binoculars used or whether it's a drone used or a ladder.”
Hammond: Shooting down a drone carries federal penalties like shooting an airplane
“As long as we're treating drones as any other kind of airplane I wouldn't recommend this, but if a drone is trespassing over your property and you choose to shoot it down, it's like treated as shooting an airplane, which is like 25 years in jail or something l…”
Downey: Major enterprises will deploy commercial drones operationally by late 2017
“So I think that's the thing that's most exciting to me and something that I also expect we're going to see in the next 18 months. Commercial companies actually move forward with, you know, commercial drones and aerial data as a way of doing business.”