This is one side of the argument. The other side of the argument is that what matters more than the raw sensor data is constructing an accurate representation of the actual 3D environment. So an argument could be made (which is what this guy and Tesla are gambling on and have designed the company around), is that the the construction & training of the Neural out-weighs the importance of the actual sensor inputs. In the sense that even with only two eyes (for example) this is enough when combined with the ability of the brain to infer the actual position and significance of real objects for successful navigation. So as a company with limited R&D & processing bandwidth, you might want to devote more resources to machine learning rather than sensor processing. I personally don't know what the answer is, just saying there is this view.
The whole point of the sensor data is to construct an accurate representation of the actual environment, so yes, if you can do that, you don't need any sensors at all. ;-)
Yes, in machine learning, pruning down to higher signal data is important, but good models are absolutely amazing at extracting meaningful information from noisy and diffuse data; it's highly unusual to find that you want to dismiss a whole domain of sensor data. In the cases where one might do that, it tends to be only AFTER achieving a successful model that you can be confident that is the right choice.
Tesla's goal is self-driving that consumers can afford, and I think in that sense they may well be making the right trade-offs, because a full sensor package would substantially add to the costs of a car. Even if you get it working, most people wouldn't be able to afford it, which means they're no closer to their goal.
However, I think for the rest of the world, the priority is something that is deemed "safe enough", and in that sense, it seems very unlikely (more specifically, we're lacking the tell tale evidence you'd want) that we're at all close to the point where you wouldn't be safer if you had a better sensor package. That means, in effect, they're effective sacrificing lives (both in terms of risk and time) in order to cut costs. Generally when companies do that, it ends in law suits.
