"I'm confident that we will
have the basic functionality of L5 autonomous driving this year," Musk
said. "There are no fundamental challenges."
Elon
Musk’s Tesla Inc is “very close” to developing fully autonomous vehicles
and could work out the basics of that technology as soon as this year, he said
in a prerecorded video played during the World AI Conference in Shanghai.
Musk reiterated
that the electric vehicle maker has solved most of the essential challenges
toward achieving Level 5 autonomy, or a fully self-driven automobile that needs
no human behind the wheel. The Tesla and SpaceX chief was reaffirming a goal
first expressed in 2019.
“I’m confident
that we will have the basic functionality of L5 autonomous driving this year,”
Musk said. “There are no fundamental challenges.”
Tesla is racing
against the likes of Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise to attain the
pinnacle of industry: The first 100 per cent driverless car. Covid-19 has both
strengthened the case for robot drivers — by making social distance essential —
and shuttered labs and factories where the technology is being refined.
Musk has argued
autonomous-driving will be transformative for Tesla.
At stake are billions of dollars in potential revenue and a global change in
traffic systems. BloombergNEF expects 27 million robotaxis on the road globally
by 2040, while Cruise CEO Dan Ammann has claimed there will be a $1 trillion
addressable market in the US for autonomous ride hailing. Waymo, a front-runner
to pioneer a commercial service, has been valued at over $100 billion.
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