Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday reiterated that the company would be "happy" to license its full self-driving (FSD) technology to other car companies but are rivals interested?
What Happened: A Tesla enthusiast took to X on Wednesday to envision a future where Tesla has achieved autonomous driving and is the world leader in EV sales.
The CEO responded to the user terming their predictions "obvious" and added that the company would also license its autonomous driving technology to other car companies.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2024
And we will license the tech to other car companies
Musk in later posts clarified that the EV company will be "happy" to do deals with rival carmakers where they integrate the tech into their vehicles for free and the car owner pays for the tech license. He also added that there is a "good chance" that FSD licensing earnings will exceed Tesla's auto business earnings in the future.
Tesla would be happy to do such deals
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2024
Industry Interest: Musk first expressed willingness to license Tesla's autopilot and FSD technologies to other car companies in June. However, in January, the company said that it had not entered into a single FSD licensing agreement until then.
Though the company had some tentative conversations, no agreement was entered into. "I think they (rival automakers) don't believe it's real quite yet," Musk then said."I do want to emphasize that if I were CEO of another car company, I would definitely be calling Tesla and asking to license Tesla's full self-driving technology."
FSD Update: Tesla started rolling out 30-day free FSD trials to vehicle owners in the U.S. who did not purchase it over the weekend. The move is aimed at demonstrating the abilities of the software which the company says will enable fully autonomous driving in due time.
Currently, the software performs as a driver assistance system that requires active driver supervision. However, it "should be really shining bright" by late April or May, Musk said in March.
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