Estimation question

How much storage is required to store all of the images on Google Maps?

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

Large scale technical estimation combining geographic coverage assumptions with imagery file sizes.

Scope the problem: Street View imagery plus satellite imagery, since both make up the bulk of Google Maps' image data.
Estimate Street View coverage: assume 10 million miles of road imaged, captured roughly every 10 meters, giving roughly 1.6 billion capture points.
Estimate images per point: assume 6 images per point (360 degree coverage) at roughly 5MB each, giving significant storage per point.
Calculate Street View storage: 1.6 billion points times 6 images times 5MB gives roughly 48,000TB, or 48 petabytes.
Estimate satellite imagery separately, assuming global coverage at high resolution adds a comparable order of magnitude in petabytes.
Sum both categories and present a final range, for example 100 to 200 petabytes, stating this is an order of magnitude estimate.

Breaks the imagery into distinct categories, Street View and satellite, since they have very different storage profiles.
Shows explicit unit conversions and step by step math, ending in a clearly labeled petabyte scale figure.
States each assumption plainly, capture density, images per point, and file size, so it can be challenged and adjusted.
Gives a final range rather than false precision, appropriate for a problem with this much inherent uncertainty.

Treating Street View and satellite imagery as one undifferentiated category with no separate reasoning.
Skipping unit conversions, leading to a final number with the wrong order of magnitude.
Giving an implausibly precise final figure with no stated range.

Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.