Musk Admits Defeat: Tesla's FSD Licensing Dreams Collapse as Automakers Reject 'Unworkable' Terms

Elon Musk admits other automakers don't want to license Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving'

After years of teasing that other automakers would license Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, Elon Musk has now admitted that no other automakers want to license it. "They don't want it!" He says. For years, the bull case for Tesla (TSLA) has relied heavily on the idea that the company isn't just an automaker, but an "AI and robotics company", with its first robot product being an autonomous car. CEO Elon Musk pushed the theory further, arguing that Tesla's lead in autonomy was so great that legacy automakers would eventually have no choice but to license Full Self-Driving (FSD) to survive. Back in early 2021, during the Q4 2020 earnings call, Musk first claimed that Tesla had "preliminary discussions" with other automakers about licensing the software. He reiterated this "openness" frequently, famously tweeting in June 2023 that Tesla was "happy to license Autopilot/FSD or other Tesla technology" to competitors. The speculation peaked in April 2024, when Musk explicitly stated that Tesla was "in talks with one major automaker" and that there was a "good chance" a deal would be signed that year. We now know that deal never happened. And thanks to comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley earlier this year, we have a good idea why. Farley, who was likely the other party in those "major automaker" talks, publicly shut down the idea of using FSD, stating clearly that "Waymo is better". Now, Musk appears to have given up on the idea of licensing Tesla FSD. In a post on X late last night, Musk acknowledged that discussions with other automakers have stalled, claiming that they asked for "unworkable requirements" for Tesla. The CEO wrote: "I've tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don't want it! Crazy ... When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless." Suppose you translate "unworkable requirements" from Musk-speak to automotive industry standard. In that case, it becomes clear what happened: automakers demanded a system that does what it says: drive autonomously, which means something different for Tesla. Legacy automakers generally follow a "V-model" of validation. They define requirements, test rigorously, and validate safety before release. When Mercedes-Benz released its Drive Pilot system, a true Level 3 system, they accepted full legal liability for the car when the system is engaged. In contrast, Tesla's "aggressive deployment" strategy relies on releasing "beta" (now "Supervised") software to customers and using them to validate the system. This approach has led to a litany of federal investigations and lawsuits. Just this month, Tesla settled the James Tran vs. Tesla lawsuit just days before trial. The case involved a Model Y on Autopilot crashing into a stationary police vehicle, a known issue with Tesla's system for years. By settling, Tesla avoided a jury verdict, but the message to the industry was clear: even Tesla knows it risks losing these cases in court. Meanwhile, major automakers, such as Toyota, have partnered with Waymo to integrate its autonomous driving techonology into its consumer vehicles. The "unworkable requirements for Tesla" is an instant Musk classic. What were those requirements that were unachievable for Tesla? That it wouldn't crash into stationary objects on the highway, such as emergency vehicles? How dare they request something that crazy? No Ford or GM executive is going to license a software stack that brings that kind of liability into their house. If they license FSD, they want Tesla to indemnify them against crashes. Tesla, knowing the current limitations of its vision-only system, likely refused. To Musk, asking him to pay for FSD's mistakes is an "unworkable requirement." It's always a driver error, and the fact that he always uses hyperbole to describe the level of safety being higher than that of humans has no impact on user abuse of the poorly named driver assistance systems in his view.

Elon Musk Says He Offered Tesla FSD License To Legacy Automakers 'But They Don't Want It:' 'I've Tried To Warn Them' - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk says the automaker has offered legacy automakers licensing opportunities for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology amid the company's AV push. FSD On Non-Tesla Vehicles? Sharing his thoughts on a thread on the social media platform X on Monday, Musk said that he had tried to "warn" legacy automakers about the advent of self-driving cars and that he "even offered to license Tesla FSD," but the automakers allegedly "don't want it," Musk said, calling it "crazy." The billionaire also said that when the companies do reach out to Tesla, "they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years," adding that the requirements for any collaboration become "unworkable" and "pointless" for Tesla. He also ended the post with dinosaur emojis, which could imply that the legacy automakers run the risk of being left behind in the autonomous driving race. Elon Musk's Final Puzzle Piece, Tesla's AI Chip-Building Push The news comes as Musk said that the FSD v14.3 update could be the final piece in the puzzle for the technology, hinting at Tesla finally achieving unsupervised autonomous driving. It's worth noting that the FSD v14 has garnered praise from various experts, who term it a significant step up from the previous iterations of the technology. Meanwhile, Musk also touted Tesla's AI chip-building efforts, predicting that the company would be making more chips than all of its competitors. Tesla's AI lead, Ahsok Elluswamy, also backed Musk's claims and highlighted collaboration between Tesla's hardware and software teams as a key element to chip progress. Tesla scores well on Momentum and Quality metrics, while offering satisfactory Growth, but poor Value. Tesla also has a favourable price trend in the Medium and Long term. For more such insights, sign up for Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings today! Price Action: TSLA surged 6.82% to $417.78 at market close, surged 0.24% to $418.78 during after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data. Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Read Next: Tesla Robotaxi Clears Major Certification In Nevada Paving Path To Commercial Operations: Report Photo courtesy: Shutterstock TSLATesla Inc$418.780.24%OverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs