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Shortly before the launch of the new robotaxi service, a surprisingly honest statement provides a deep insight into the company's true capabilities.

By Hannah Klaiber

01.06.2025, 16:50

In a rare moment of candor, Ashok Elluswamy, Head of AI and Autopilot Software at Austin, Texas-based car manufacturer Tesla, has admitted to being significantly behind the competition in terms of technology. Speaking to a journalist, Elluswamy admitted that Tesla's technology for fully autonomous driving (FSD) lags behind that of Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet from Mountain View in the US state of California.

The head of AI said: "Technically, Waymo is already capable. We are perhaps a few years behind." This statement provides a remarkable categorization, as Waymo is already considered the "gold standard" of autonomous driving and operates commercial robotaxi services in several US cities. First reported by InsideEVs.

Vision vs Lidar: Which solution is better?

At the heart of the gap lies a fundamentally different technological philosophy. Tesla is known to rely on "Tesla Vision", an approach that relies solely on data from cameras, which, according to Elluswamy, only cost between one and ten US dollars each.

Waymo, on the other hand, equips its fleet with lidar and radar sensors in addition to cameras. These were long regarded as extremely expensive, but according to industry observers, the cost of lidar units has now fallen to less than 1,000 dollars, which makes their use in cheaper vehicles possible in principle.

Elluswamy defends Tesla's path as the "more valuable to the world", as a low-cost solution allows for faster scaling. However, he admits that it is "technically challenging" to solve the problem of autonomous driving with cameras alone. Corresponding tests are repeatedly posted on social media, for example on ex-Twitter X:

Business Insider magazine observed in a test just how challenging Tesla's alternative approach can be: According to it, a Tesla with FSD software activated had driven into a bicycle lane and run a red light, while a Waymo mastered a comparable route flawlessly.

A reality check for Musk's robotaxi plans

Elluswamy's admission puts another damper on Tesla boss Elon Musk's ambitious plans. Musk has been promising an imminent autonomy revolution for years and wants to launch his first robotaxi service in Austin as early as next month.

The realistic assessment of his own AI boss now raises the question of how efficient this service will really be in the beginning. In any case, it fits seamlessly into a series of postponed schedules. For example, a fully autonomous journey from coast to coast in the USA was already promised for 2016. So far, that has not happened.

https://t3n.de/news/wir-liegen-jahre-zurueck-tesla-ki-robotaxi-1689325/