Elon Musk Admits Tesla Full Self-Driving 'Not Great'

Tesla's FSD Beta and Elon Musk's Assessment

Less than a week has passed since Tesla’s AI Day presentation – a live-streamed event designed to attract top AI and vision engineers – and CEO Elon Musk is already sharing his evaluation of the “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) technology.

Musk's Critique of FSD Beta 9.2

In a recent tweet, Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with FSD Beta 9.2, stating it wasn’t performing optimally. He also indicated that the Autopilot/AI team is working rapidly to implement improvements.

Musk explained that Tesla is striving for a unified technology platform applicable to both highway and urban driving scenarios. However, achieving this necessitates extensive retraining of the underlying neural network.

A Moment of Honesty

Despite potential disappointment within the AI and vision team following Musk’s public assessment, this represents a rare instance of directness from the CEO.

Typically, reports concerning Tesla’s autonomous capabilities require careful scrutiny, as claims surrounding “Full Self-Driving” often necessitate a critical perspective. It’s important to note that the current system is, in reality, an advanced driver-assistance system, potentially paving the way for future advancements in true autonomy.

Musk’s comments resonate with sentiments expressed by others in the autonomous vehicle industry.

The Challenges of Vision-Only Systems

Don Burnette, CEO of Kodiak Robotics, highlights the complexities of the task. His company is currently concentrating solely on autonomous trucking, recognizing it as a more manageable initial challenge.

Because Tesla relies exclusively on optical cameras, eschewing lidar and radar, the need for “massive” neural network training is substantial. The AI team must continuously gather and simulate vast amounts of visual data from both highway and city environments.

This data processing demands significant computational resources both within the vehicle and during the training phase, crucial for a genuinely full self-driving system capable of operating effectively in diverse conditions.

Updates and Optimism

Musk subsequently reported a “much improved!” experience after driving FSD Beta 9.3 from Pasadena to LAX. However, his inherent optimism should be considered.

Earlier this month, Musk announced plans for bi-weekly releases of new FSD versions, scheduled for midnight California time. He previously asserted that Beta 9.2 would be “tight,” attributing previous limitations to the use of radar and predicting accelerated progress with a pure vision approach.

Addressing Recent Concerns

Musk’s statements may also be a response to recent negative publicity surrounding the FSD system.

U.S. auto regulators recently initiated a preliminary investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot, following 11 incidents involving collisions with stationary first responder vehicles. The reasons for targeting first responder vehicles specifically remain unclear.

According to investigation documents from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, the majority of these incidents occurred during nighttime hours. While poor night vision is a known issue for human drivers, such occurrences are unacceptable in the realm of autonomous driving.