The DARPA car racing thing seems to be a breakthrough. Granted, 30 years ago people would have expected more. But it is more than just a chess algorithm.
DARPA Grand Challenge? How's that a breakthrough in AI? Sure, it's uses a lot of results of "AI" research, but there's nothing revolutionary about that.
My understanding is that they made a big leap during the challenge - from catastrophic performance in the first run, to several successful drivers in the second run.
Revolutionary or not, I don't think it was trivial to make an autonomous vehicle.
