Tesla owners can also transfer FSD over to a new car (for a limited time only).
During Tesla's second-quarter earning call, Elon Musk revealed that a “major OEM” is investigating the option of licensing its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and hardware. According to Musk, as reported by Automotive News, this move is as important as allowing other manufacturers to use its Supercharger network.
“We are already in early discussions with a major OEM about using Tesla FSD,” said Musk. “We're not trying to keep this to ourselves. We're more than happy to license it to others.” This is not the first time Musk talked about possibly open-sourcing its Level 2 autonomous system. “It is fundamentally extremely expensive to create the system, so somehow that has to be paid for,” the CEO said at Tesla's AI Day in 2021.
According to TechCrunch, Musk also said that Tesla will allow its customers to transfer FSD to new vehicles. To date, owners who spent $15,000 to equip FSD to their Model S, 3, X, or Y could not upgrade to a new Tesla without losing access to the camera-based system. Buying a new model meant handing over $15,000 all over again, and that's finally about to change, but only for a limited time.
“This is a one-time amnesty,” said Musk. He told customers to place orders in the third quarter or within reasonable delivery time frames. Is Musk simply feeling charitable, or is there another reason?
According to Tesla, there are currently 400,000 models equipped with FSD. Tesla needs to increase this figure so it can collect more real-world driving data. Musk said that it's important to have access to this data and that it already has 300 million recorded miles to work with. He also said that this number will “seem extremely small very soon.”
The American automaker also said it would soon start building the Dojo supercomputer. Dojo is an in-house project unveiled at the 2022 AI Day. At the time, Tesla boasted about how it could be used to design a car, and now it seems its duties will be expanded to train and improve FSD.
Musk also took the opportunity to make fun of himself and the many FSD promises he's made in the past. “I know I'm the Boy Who Cried FSD, but I think it will be better than a human by the end of this year,” said Musk.
All signs point to Tesla going beyond Level 2 in the near future. Tesla's “God Mode” was recently discovered, and although it's more aggressive about forward collision warnings, there's no nagging. Nagging is meant to remind a driver to keep their hands on the wheel, so removing it points to a Level 3 rating where the driver no longer needs to pay attention.
Tesla will be one of the first mass manufacturers to get there, but not the first. That accolade belongs to Honda, though Mercedes-Benz is the only automaker with permission to run Level 3 in the USA.
The renewed vigor to increase the number of cars on the road equipped with FSD will undoubtedly be helped along by Tesla's price cuts. Elon Musk threw an elephant-sized monkey wrench in the works by dropping prices across the board, resulting in a price war in the EV segment. Even with other manufacturers dropping prices, the Tesla Model Y remains a firm favorite and is currently behind the best-selling car in the world.
The Model 3 is also getting a substantial facelift, making it an even more attractive proposition than it already is, thanks to the government's generous tax breaks.
Our Take
There's a lot to unpack here, starting with the mystery OEM. It might be another startup without the funds to create a system like FSD. Examples include Rivian, Lucid, Fisker, and VinFast. But Musk used the word “major,” so we're talking big leagues.
There are two possibilities. It's no secret that Volkswagen's Cariad division has been a thorn in the CEO's side since he took over the job. In fact, Cariad is widely believed to be the reason why the previous CEO lost his job. VW can bypass years of development by licensing FSD.
The other likely possibility is Toyota and its technology subsidiary, Woven Planet. Toyota also believes in camera-based systems as the most viable solution to autonomous driving. We know the Japanese giant isn't afraid to collaborate and share, so it's also an option.
The mystery OEM is taking a big gamble, however. FSD has been in the news since its launch, almost always for the wrong reasons. The NHTSA forced Tesla to update its software earlier this year, and its investigations into Autopilot date back to 2019. A recent report shows that Autopilot is linked to more crashes and fatalities than initially estimated.
A month after the above news broke, the NHTSA posted a letter on its website demanding access to everything related to Autopilot and FSD.
Such a high-profile investigation has the potential to derail FSD completely, so jumping in bed with Tesla might be a tad risky. Talks are still early, however, and we don't expect an announcement for some time yet.
Keyword: Elon Musk In Talks To Share Full Self-Driving With Major OEM