Tesla owners with Hardware 4 (AI4) vehicles recently received reassuring news regarding the future of Full Self-Driving (FSD). Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, confirmed that cars equipped with Tesla’s current-generation AI4 hardware will be capable of achieving Full Self-Driving (Unsupervised) without needing any additional hardware upgrades. This clarification came in response to speculation online about whether AI4 vehicles might eventually require newer chips to support true autonomy.
The confirmation from Musk was straightforward and clear. In response to a user noting that better hardware isn’t necessary for unsupervised driving with AI4, Musk simply replied with a “Yup,” settling the debate once and for all. This reaffirms Tesla’s position that AI4 has the capability to handle the company’s autonomy ambitions as they move towards fully unsupervised operation.
This distinction is crucial as Tesla continues to progress with its AI roadmap. While AI5, Tesla’s next-generation in-house chip, is nearing production and promises a significant performance improvement over AI4, Musk’s comments make it evident that AI5 is not a requirement for unsupervised FSD in customer vehicles. Instead, AI5 is expected to power future vehicles, robotics platforms like Optimus, and large-scale training clusters.
The situation is different for older Hardware 3 (HW3) vehicles. Tesla has maintained that HW3 owners will need to upgrade their hardware to access unsupervised Full Self-Driving once it becomes publicly available. This stance remains unchanged, even as Tesla continues to test unsupervised FSD internally on its Robotaxi fleet in Austin, Texas.
For HW3 cars, there is still hope. Tesla is working on an FSD 14 “Lite” version for HW3 vehicles, and recent patent activity suggests that there may be ways to extend the useful life of older hardware without physical chip replacements.
However, for AI4 owners, Musk’s confirmation brings welcome clarity. As Tesla moves closer to a broader rollout of unsupervised autonomy, it is evident that vehicles equipped with AI4 today have everything they need, without the need for a surprise hardware swap in the future.