The surest signal yet that automated vehicles are inching closer to reaching American roads arrives not via a big announcement about testing in New York City nor the deployment of a fleet of hundreds of cars in Phoenix. Instead, it?s the sight of LeBron James relaxing in the rear seat of a driverless sedan. With the basketball season under way, Intel has aired a television ad called ?Fearless? (embedded below) that features the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar. In the spot, his initial reluctance to trust a vehicle that pulls to the curb without a human driver transforms into unbridled enthusiasm for the technology in the span of 30 seconds.
It might take longer for an apprehensive public to follow his lead. Surveys show a majority of Americans are reluctant to ride in automated vehicles, a problematic figure for industry officials who believe the technology will reach streets sooner than is generally expected. Intel chief executive officer Brian Krzanich said the ad is intended to help establish the trustworthiness of autonomous vehicles.
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?The idea is to get people interested and to understand

that it is safe.?
? Brian Krzanich, Intel 
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?The technology is moving quickly, and different types of vehicles are going to start coming out next year,? he told Car and Driver. ?Either it will be driverless taxis on relatively fixed routes, like we?ve talked about [doing] with Waymo next year, or we?ll have cars with on-ramp-to-off-ramp capability. The idea is to get people in...