Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood claims that Tesla is on track to achieve FSD level 4/5 owing to “certain breakthroughs in AI” in an exclusive interview with Benzinga Chief Jason Raznick on The Raz Report.
Timeline
Tesla Chief Elon Musk recently announced at the Shanghai World Artificial Intelligence Conference on July 6 his estimates that the Full Self-Driving suite will soon operate fully autonomously, InsideEVs reported. According to the CEO, FSD is “very close” to achieving Level 4 or 5 autonomy before the end of 2023.
“In terms of where Tesla is at this stage, I think we are very close to achieving full self-driving without human supervision. This is only speculation, but I think we’ll achieve full self-driving, maybe what you would call four or five, I think later this year.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
CEO Musk recognized his missed estimates regarding the FSD’s achievement of full autonomy. Nonetheless, he stated then that Tesla was getting closer to its FSD targets.
“I feel like we’re closer to it than we ever have been.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Recent improvements
Tesla initially launched the FSD Beta in October 2020 and constantly implemented numerous updates.
Version 11 to 11.4.7 enabled the FSD Beta to support a single software stack for city and highway driving, Tesmanian noted.
In late June, CEO Musk stated that the company would officially remove the “Beta” label in version 12. It implies that this version will be the final form of the FSD as soon as it is released.
In recent developments, Tesla has already employed artificial intelligence to accelerate its FSD targets, including the mass launch of version 12.
AI application accelerates FSD development
Benzinga Chief Jason Raznick took the opportunity to ask prominent American investor and businesswoman Cathie Wood regarding the FSD implications.
“Well, if you received the last software upgrade, you’ll see how much FSD has improved.”
Ark Investor CEO Cathie Wood
She highly praised Tesla’s FSD technology by saying that the current data already supports the notion that the FSD application is sixfold safer than driving a standard car.
She further noted that Tesla’s significant advancements in AI enable the company to continuously reach new heights in FSD’s safety.
“What we’re seeing is certain breakthroughs in AI [are] taking Tesla closer to its goal.”
Ark Investor CEO Cathie Wood
Ms. Wood further emphasized that the company’s existing safety measures are highly based on the data that FSD-related accidents occur “once every 3.2 million miles.”
It marks a major progress from the pre-FSD safety metrics and the average human driver.
In addition, Ms. Wood also expressed her opinions of the “network effect” concept for the company’s fleet by comparing it with General Motors’ Cruise Automation.
“It only took [Cruise] three months, so 90 days to figure Austin out, I’m sure it’s motivating Elon even more.”
Ark Investor CEO Cathie Wood
See Also:
- Tesla FSD Beta saw a 475% YoY growth, 78% since Q3 2022
- Elon Musk says the Tesla FSD Beta V11 will expand over a few weeks before public release
- Tesla CEO discloses a 6-month timeline for FSD integration on HW4-equipped models
- Tesla CEO live streams FSD Beta test drive on X
- Tesla boss to live stream FSD v12 test drive on X “next week”
The FSD’s potential to hit full autonomy before the year ends will undoubtedly aid Tesla in accomplishing its mission to lead the global shift to cleaner, safer, and easier transportation. It will also offer the company a new source of revenue and attract more customers to opt for Tesla models over any other rivals.
