Waymo's Fatal Flaw vs Tesla? Musk Spills
Tesla CEO Elon Musk boldly claimed on X that rival Waymo 'never really had a chance' against Tesla in the self-driving race, predicting it will be obvious in hindsight. As the top players in U.S. driverless ride-hailing, Tesla and Waymo clash over strategies: Tesla's vision-only tech in its global EV fleet versus Waymo's LiDAR-equipped custom vehicles in big cities. With Tesla set to ditch safety monitors in Austin by year's end and scale via over-the-air updates, this rivalry could reshape urban transport, cutting emissions through efficient EV robotaxis and advancing sustainable mobility.
Elon Musk's jab at Waymo came after Google DeepMind's Jeff Dean highlighted Waymo's 96 million rider-only autonomous miles and strong safety record. Musk fired back, emphasizing Tesla's massive potential fleet.
Tesla operates robotaxis in Austin and the Bay Area, but with monitors for now. That's changing fast—Austin goes fully driverless by December. Meanwhile, the companies battle over service areas in those cities.
Tesla's game-changer? Any of its millions of EVs worldwide can become robotaxis with a software update. Waymo sticks to purpose-built vehicles from various makers, limiting scale. Tesla bets on cameras alone, ditching pricier sensors like LiDAR that Musk calls a 'fool's errand.'
This push accelerates clean, efficient transport. Tesla's EV robotaxis promise fewer crashes, less congestion, and lower emissions—key steps against climate urgency. Scaling self-driving EVs beats fossil-fuel rides, paving the way for greener cities.