Tesla is ready to license its autonomous driving (FSD) to its competitors. A first manufacturer is already in the process of negotiating with Tesla.
A major automaker has reportedly started negotiations with Tesla to obtain its autonomous driving solution. This is what Elon Musk declared during the financial results conference on April 23, without of course revealing the name.
Tesla is developing autonomous driving called “Full Self Driving” (or FSD) without sensors and lidar. The system relies solely on vehicle cameras and artificial intelligence. A solution that has long been considered unreliable by experts. However, the latest version of the technology installed in Tesla models has brought notable progress. This is apparently enough to convince another manufacturer to negotiate with the brand.
Licensed technology
As with its network of superchargers, the American manufacturer is ready to share access to its technology with other brands. If Tesla has managed to convince many manufacturers to adopt the NACS charging port to adapt to Tesla terminals in the United States, the task promises to be more difficult when it comes to autonomous driving.
For a little over a year, Tesla has indicated that it wants to market its autonomous driving to competitors, but few are jumping on the opportunity. However, many of them encounter difficulties in developing this technology to the level of Tesla, even if the manufacturer does not really follow all the rules.
Until now, the technology embedded by Tesla still had significant shortcomings, but the company is evolving quickly on this subject. This progression will further amplify in the coming times, because AI will become the manufacturer’s raison d’être, as Elon Musk confirmed during the conference on April 23.
Elon Musk was also reassuring that this technology can be adapted to all countries, without requiring specific developments for each market. This is a strong argument against Chinese manufacturers who are banking on autonomous driving that works with pre-established maps. All this still remains to be confirmed in Europe and China for Tesla.
Negotiations for integration within 3 years
Elon Musk is hopeful that the current negotiations will be successful by the end of the year. However, he warns: “ It will probably be at least 3 years before this automaker can integrate it. »
This is not really a turnkey “plug & play” solution for interested manufacturers. Tesla must also certainly make the operation of its tool and its outsourcing even more reliable on models that are not Tesla electric cars.
Elon Musk is, as usual, quite confident on the subject, he even considers “ that there is a good chance that other manufacturers will sign an FSD license this year. » It must be said that it was enough for Ford to start the movement on the NACS charging socket for other manufacturers to also give in to the temptation. Will it be the same with Tesla’s autonomous driving? Is Elon Musk about to succeed in his bet? The answer will still require a little patience.
As for which manufacturer would be in negotiations with Tesla on the issue, eyes turn quite easily towards Ford. The Ford boss has often shown enthusiasm for Tesla’s innovations. But nothing confirms this at present.
This announcement could have reassured Tesla investors, a trend to follow in our editorialized newsletter Watt Else.
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