Tesla is exploring the possibility of licensing its software technologies, encompassing its highly automated Autopilot driving system and the neural network training processes used to refine its self-driving capabilities. Elon Musk, Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer, disclosed these considerations during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, stating that initial discussions regarding licensing Autopilot to other vehicle manufacturers have already taken place.

The company initiated the release of a beta version of its ‘full self-driving’ (FSD) Autopilot system in the latter part of the previous year. The currently available standard Autopilot features, generally accessible to the public, offer advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) that function as sophisticated cruise control, primarily intended for highway driving. Musk indicated during the call that the company intends to fully validate the capabilities of its FSD system before considering any licensing arrangements, should they choose to move forward with that strategy.

Musk emphasized that Tesla’s overarching “philosophy is not to create closed ecosystems,” and highlighted the company’s plans to grant other automotive manufacturers access to its Supercharger networks, in addition to its autonomous driving software. He affirmed Tesla’s willingness to license these autonomous technologies to “other car companies.”

A significant technical challenge in achieving a level of reliability where Tesla’s technology consistently surpasses that of a typical human driver involves transitioning the neural networks used in the vehicles, and the analytical processes that power their perception systems, to operate with video data. This represents a complete system-wide shift away from relying on neural networks trained using individual cameras and single image frames.

To facilitate this transition, the company has created video-labeling software that has “significantly improved labeling efficiency,” with the long-term goal of achieving automated labeling. Musk, known for his confident assessment of his company’s accomplishments, suggested that Tesla believes “it may possess the world’s most powerful neural net training computer, potentially by a substantial margin,” and added that this capability could also be offered as a service.

Processing large volumes of video data will enable Tesla to enhance the reliability of its software from matching the performance of a human driver to exceeding it by a factor of two, and ultimately to achieving a level “2,000% better than the average human,” Musk stated, while reiterating that the company does not intend to exclusively retain this technological advancement.