Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has reaffirmed that the automaker has offered the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system to legacy manufacturers via licensing deals.
FSD Licenses?
In a post on X on Monday, Boom Supersonic CEO and founder Blake Scholl predicted that the Tesla FSD will be “an in-house advantage for a couple years,” but will be offered to manufacturers via licensing deals when competitors start ramping up autonomous efforts.
Scholl compared the move to Tesla’s Supercharger network, which was initially only available to the automaker’s EVs, but was eventually opened up to other manufacturers as well.
Influencer Sawyer Merritt quoted Scholl’s post, saying that Tesla and Musk had “for years openly invited other automakers to license FSD,” but said that “none” of the manufacturers have accepted the invitation.
Musk responded to Merritt’s post on X, backing the Tesla investor’s claim. “Exactly,” the billionaire said in his response. Back in November last year, the CEO had made similar claims, saying that the FSD system had been offered to legacy automakers, but they show little interest.
Musk then said that when the legacy automakers do reach out, they “tepidly” hold discussions about “implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years.”
Tesla’s Vision-Only Approach
Notably, Tesla’s FSD system has been criticized for its vision-only approach to autonomous driving as opposed to a camera+LiDAR-based approach that has become a mainstay in several autonomous driving suites today.
Tesla’s self-driving technology features various speed modes, including a “Mad Max” setting, but it does not offer full autonomy and requires drivers to be attentive at all times and ready to take over driving duties
The automaker’s AI chief Ashok Elluswamy recently said that Tesla will be betting on relying on a “smarter FSD system” rather than on company-imposed ceilings, echoing Musk’s comments made in July about the FSD system becoming capable of being tailored to individual driver preferences.
Price Action: TSLA shares rose 0.15% to $375.79 during pre-market trading on Tuesday.
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