Publisher’s Statement on Alex Roy’s New Role at Argo AI

The Drive’s outspoken Editor-at-Large surprises everyone. Again.

byAndrew Perlman|
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When Alex Roy first told me he had accepted a position at Argo AI, I didn't believe it. What could be less believable than a notorious perpetrator of stunts and hoaxes, the world's most outspoken driving enthusiast and Cannonball record-setting driver, and the founder of the Human Driving Association, going to work for one of the world's leading self-driving technology companies?

Then he explained it, and it made perfect sense. If we accept that self-driving is inevitable, all of us — safety advocates and driving enthusiasts alike — should want someone like Alex on the inside. Alex Roy is our generation's Brock Yates, fighting to protect our freedoms to drive and, equally if not more importantly, our freedom of mobility in an age of rising automation. Honestly, I have no idea how he convinced the Argo team to bring him on board, but I give them props for having the vision to do so.

How will this affect Alex Roy's role as Editor-at-Large at The Drive?

The good news: Roy will keep his title and his column—and continue to call it like he sees it. 

The bad news: Ethical guidelines dictate that Roy will have to recuse writing about some topics, for obvious reasons. Myself, The Drive’s Editor-in-Chief Mike Guy and our whole team firmly believe in continuously raising the bar on both the quality and the integrity of our journalism. 

More good news: The Drive has just hired Ed Niedermeyer, co-host of The Autonocast and one of the most respected journalists in the sector, as Senior Editor of Mobility Technology. Ed will be expanding and deepening our expert EV, AV, and Mobility coverage. 

There's even more good stuff, but it has to wait.

On behalf of everyone at The Drive, we congratulate Alex on his move. He is one of the most important voices in car culture, was instrumental in our acquisition of The Drive, and we want nothing less than the roles of our contributors to expand in the ever-changing landscape of transportation. His columns "Elaine Herzberg's Death Isn't Uber's Tragedy, It's Ours”,  "Autonomous Cars? We Want Autonomy Cars", "Why Human Driving Will Never Die" and "Uberpocalyft Now” are part of the reason The Drive matters. 

As the largest independent media company in the sector, we are excited to see what happens next and to tell the story of the future of transportation the way no one else can.

You can read Alex Roy's official statement here.

Andrew Perlman is the CEO of Flash Equity and Publisher of The Drive.

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