--- title: "Elon Musk Finally Admits That Teslas Don’t Have What It Takes for Full Self-Driving" description: "After repeatedly insisting for over a decade that Tesla was on the verge of FSD, Elon Musk has finally admitted that it's not happening." date: "2025-01-31" modified: "2025-01-31" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-admits-fsd-hardware" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "fsd" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Finally Admits That Teslas Don’t Have What It Takes for Full Self-Driving ![After repeatedly insisting for over a decade that Tesla was on the verge of FSD, Elon Musk has finally admitted that it's not happening.]() *\Image: Shawn Thew-Pool / Muhammed Gencebay Gur / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images / Futurism\* ## Honest Elon After repeatedly [insisting for over a decade]() that Tesla was on the verge of legitimate full self-driving (FSD) — and selling cars with pricey computing hardware, based on the [promise that they'd increase in value]() once the feature became reality — CEO Elon Musk has finally admitted that it's not happening with the vehicles' current hardware. During the electric carmaker's [latest quarterly earnings call](), Musk gave investors the "absolutely painful and difficult" concession. "The truth is that we’re gonna have to upgrade people’s Hardware 3 \[computers\] for those who have bought Full Self Driving," the brash billionaire said, "and that is the honest answer." "I’m kind of glad," he mused, "that not that many people bought the FSD package" — which, let's not forget, he [spent years exhorting]() them to purchase. As [*The Verge* notes](), Musk issued this revelation while interrupting Tesla's Autopilot and AI czar Ashok Elluswamy, essentially contradicting his own executive while he tried to tell investors that the company had not given up on its HW3. Elluswamy, to his credit, handled the interruption diplomatically by teasing that Tesla will be releasing a "baby" version of FSD while its engineers work on the latest version of the self-driving feature for cars equipped with the newer Hardware 4 computers. ## Promise Rings Hollow The admission follows previous musings by Musk, during another quarterly earnings call last year, in which he [appeared to realize]() that HW3 doesn't have the juice. "There is some chance," the CEO said during [Tesla's Q3 2024 earnings call]() last October, "that HW3 does not achieve the safety level that allows for unsupervised FSD." "H4 has several times the capability of HW3," he continued. "It’s easier to get things to work on HW4 and it takes a lot of effort to squeeze that into HW3." Back in 2018, the company began giving away "free" [HW3 upgrades]() to people who bought FSD software for their Teslas. On this latest call, Musk [reiterated a similar offer]() to FSD purchasers to upgrade them to HW4, [*Teslerati* reports](), though he didn't give a timeline for when that might happen. Despite that promise, these latest missives from Musk's galaxy brain coming after more than a decade of kicking the can are beyond the pale, even for him. **More on Tesla:** *[Tesla's Profits Are Falling Off a Cliff as Elon Musk Self-Immolates]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()