Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently took a swipe at Waymo in a post on X, claiming that the company “never really had a chance” and that this fact will become clear in hindsight. This comment comes as Tesla and Waymo continue to be the primary players in the self-driving industry in the United States, with both offering driverless ride-hailing services.
While Tesla currently has Safety Monitors present in its vehicles in Austin, Texas, and a driver in the seat for its Bay Area operation, Musk has announced plans to eliminate Safety Monitors in Austin by the end of the year. The rivalry between Tesla and Waymo is evident in their geofences, which determine their service areas in Austin and the Bay Area.
Despite the current differences between the two companies, such as Waymo’s focus on larger cities and Tesla’s plan to expand self-driving capabilities to all its vehicles globally, Musk remains confident in Tesla’s approach. Unlike Waymo, which relies on technologies like LiDAR, Tesla takes a vision-only approach to self-driving. Musk has been critical of LiDAR in the past, calling it “a fool’s errand.”
In response to comments from Jeff Dean, Chief Scientist for Google DeepMind, who praised Waymo’s safety data and rider-only autonomous miles, Musk reiterated his belief that Waymo is no match for Tesla in the long run. He highlighted Tesla’s potential to activate Robotaxi services on a much larger fleet of vehicles through Over-the-Air updates, while Waymo may be limited to specific vehicles designated as Robotaxis.
Overall, the competition between Tesla and Waymo is fierce, but Musk’s confidence in Tesla’s approach and capabilities suggests that the company is well-positioned to lead the self-driving industry in the future. As advancements continue to be made in autonomous technology, it will be interesting to see how these two giants continue to innovate and compete in this rapidly evolving space.