Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software has been the subject of intense scrutiny for years, and a recent exchange on social media has brought the debate to the forefront once again.
A user, James Wang, who is both a long-term Tesla shareholder and a critic of Tesla’s autonomy capabilities, claimed that Tesla’s FSD is “not remotely close to Waymo,” estimating that it is “at least 100x” behind the autonomous driving platform. Despite this, Wang acknowledged that Tesla has an edge in terms of geographic coverage, given Waymo’s limited operations in specific areas.
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This is my experience in SF Bay. I have to make daily interventions on the Model 3 (mostly from wrong lane selection). Waymo you can basically go to sleep.
Tesla does feel generally safe in terms of understanding the environment and avoiding collision.
— James Wang (@draecomino) January 23, 2025
Tesla, however, has responded robustly to such criticism. Phil Duan, a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Tesla working in the Autopilot program, addressed Wang’s concerns with a confident message, telling him to “prepare to be shocked” without giving a specific timeframe. This cryptic response sparked speculation about the company’s ongoing advancements in FSD technology.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has long been considered one of the company’s key innovations, with CEO Elon Musk setting ambitious expectations for 2025. Musk has indicated that he anticipates FSD to be operational in certain jurisdictions, particularly in Texas and California, this year.
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The company has also made continuous improvements, regularly rolling out software updates and focusing on new hardware features in its vehicles to further enhance FSD capabilities.
As competitors like Waymo continue to develop their own autonomous platforms, Tesla remains determined to close the gap. With its latest advancements in hardware and software, Tesla’s vision of full autonomy appears to be moving closer to reality, despite the ongoing debates in the industry. The company’s continued progress will be closely watched, especially as Tesla pushes forward with its ambitious goals for the future of driving.