Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the next FSD major upgrade, which will be released in the next few days, will improve the miles driven without intervention by 5 to 10 times. Musk added that Cybertruck will get an even better FSD software in June.
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Tesla is making great strides in AI and self-driving. A few months ago, the EV maker replaced 300,000 lines of code that underpins the company’s full self-driving effort with an end-to-end AI model that learns how to drive by simply watching human beings navigate the streets.
Tesla’s latest FSD software, FSD version 12, has been referred to as Chat GPT for driving. Rather than hundreds of thousands of lines of code telling the vehicle what to do at stop signs, street lines, roundabouts, intersections, and so on, the FSD AI drives by mimicking human beings.
Tesla first rolled out FSD v12 to customers a few months ago. Since then, Tesla has been making minor iterations, with the latest FSD version being FSD v12.3.
Unlike prior FSD versions, the FSD v12 driving experience has been described as smooth and human-like. While first demoing the software, Musk said that in FSD v12, there isn’t any line of code telling the vehicle what to do at a traffic light but that the software figured out what a traffic light is on its own by observing millions of miles of actual people driving.
Tesla identified limitations in AI training computers as the major bottleneck hindering FSD v12's progress. During the Q1 2024 earnings report, Tesla revealed that the company had doubled the total installed AI computing capacity in just the first three months of the year to address this issue.
During the Q1 2024 earnings call, Elon Musk revealed that Tesla plans to double the company’s AI computing capability once again before the end of the year.
With the biggest bottleneck for FSD progress quickly getting addressed, Elon Musk now says Tesla is making incredible improvements in the system's reliability.
A few hours ago, Musk revealed the next FSD software, FSD v12.4, will “go to internal release this weekend and limited external beta next week.”
This on its own is exciting; however, Musk upped the ante by stating that FSD v12.4 will not be a simple iterative progress but will deliver “roughly 5X to 10X improvement in miles per intervention vs 12.3.”
With the current FSD version 12.3, driving several miles without intervening a single time has become commonplace. If FSD v12.4 delivers a 5-to-10-time improvement on the already exceptional AI, then the software has a chance to be revolutionary for Tesla.
A 5 to 10X reduction in miles per intervention might just push Tesla vehicles over the barrier that a Tesla using FSD is safer than a human being behind the wheel. And it’s incredible to think this software will be in limited release in less than a week.
However, if you think this is impressive, Elon Musk has revealed that Tesla is already working on an even more revolutionary update to the FSD software.
According to Musk, FSD v12.5 will be released in late June and “will also see a major improvement in miles per intervention and is single stack – no more implicit stack on highways.”
Musk is referring to the fact that the FSD v12 still relies on some manually written code to make driving decisions on the highway. This is unlike FSD v12 on surface streets, which completely relies on AI for all driving maneuvers.
Given the smaller number of variables, it’s much easier to manually code for what the vehicle should do in different situations on the highway. Tesla already has over half a decade of experience refining the highway heuristic instructions.
It appears that on FSD v12.4, Tesla will still partially rely upon manually written code while driving on the highway. However, with the v12.5 update coming in late June, Tesla will be moving to an end-to-end AI model.
FSD v12.5 appears to be what Musk and Tesla have planned to reach for years. Sensor input comes in from the cameras, and a driving output is generated without any manually written instructions.
This is certainly exciting; however, it also raises questions regarding the Cybertruck. Despite the cost of a full self-driving capability automatically being included in the purchase of a Foundation Series Cybertruck, currently, FSD is not available in any of the Cybertrucks Tesla is delivering.
Musk has previously stated that, given the Cybertruck's smaller production volume, it is a lower priority when it comes to solving full self-driving in Tesla vehicles.
Currently, let alone full self-drivng capability, the Cybertruck does not even feature the free Autopilot driver assist software included in all Teslas.
However, if you are concerned that your Cybertruck will be left out of all these full self-driving improvements, fear not; Elon Musk has also provided some good news on this front.
Musk says the Cybertruck will receive full self-driving capability with the FSD v12.5 update, which will be released in late June. This means all Tesla Cybertruck owners thus far should expect the FSD capability they have already paid for to be activated in the next few weeks.
This is all exciting, and we will keep you posted as Tesla strides towards level 5 full self-driving technology. Until then, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
So, what do you think? Are you surprised to hear Elon Musk state that in the next few days, Tesla will release an FSD upgrade that will improve miles per intervention 5 to 10X? Do you think this will push FSD to be better than a human driver? Also, given Elon Musk’s multiple unmet FSD promises, do you believe his latest FSD statment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below by clicking the red “Add new comment” button.
Image: Screenshot from Elon Musk’s TED interview
For more information, check out: A U.S. Army Veteran, EV/Tech YouTuber Says – “Tesla is Refusing To Give Me a Replacement Cybertruck After Mine Has Been Broken 4 Times” – “I have 16.8 Million Views Showing Issues With My Cybertruck”
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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