- Elon Musk announces talks with another automaker to use full self-driving (FSD) technology
- With better assistance from Autopilot, this Tesla technology could land on cars from other brands
- “We are more than happy to license it to others,” Musk said.
In the US, in addition to Autopilot, Tesla offers a feature called Full Self-Driving (FSD) that offers a smarter driver assistance system. Although controversial, still in beta, and expensive (Tesla customers have to pay $15,000), this feature will intrigue the competition. For its part, Elon Musk’s company is willing to sell licenses to its technology.
As reported by TechCrunch, the announcement was made by Elon Musk during a conference call, on the occasion of Tesla’s quarterly results presentation. “We’re not trying to keep this to ourselves,” Musk said on the call. “We are more than happy to license it to others.”
He also revealed that Tesla is already in discussion with a major auto player, who may be interested in using this license. At the moment, we do not know who this competitor is. But according to Elon Musk, Tesla’s FSD function could soon land on cars of another brand.
According to the Tesla website, in addition to the functions available in Autopilot, FSD It identifies stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slows your vehicle to a stop on approach, with your active supervision.
Do you want Tesla to become Samsung Automotive?
In the smartphone market, Samsung does not only sell mobile phones. It also sells components such as OLED screens for its competitors’ models. It is clear that Tesla could adopt a strategy reminiscent of the Korean giant’s strategy on cars.
In a tweet posted in June, Musk had already mentioned the possibility of offering FSD to other manufacturers. In the same post, he said he was willing to help other automakers where possible, and noted that Tesla had already made its patents available for free.
Moreover, sharing Tesla technologies with the rest of the industry, via the licensing system, should not be limited to driving assistance. In fact, Musk said other Tesla technologies could also be involved.
In the US, Tesla has already made its charging connector, which it calls the “North American Charging Standard,” available to other drivers. And since this year, it’s still in the US, making its superchargers more accessible to non-Tesla car owners.