Tesla sparks firestorm after bold defense of self-driving tech: 'Car does it all for you'

Tesla is fighting back at criticism of its Full Self-Driving features. The EV automaker took to the social media platform X to provide a robust defense of FSD's current state and future.

"Autonomy, at scale, makes cities more livable & gives you back the most important thing in life: time," Tesla's account declared.

While few would take issue with this point, many consumers have been underwhelmed with FSD's view of autonomy thus far, due to the need for drivers to be attentive. 

Tesla pushed back, posting, "Although FSD Supervised currently does require your supervision, you will still notice that your commute or long drives are suddenly so much less taxing."

Teslarati added context, saying FSD "has a ton of potential." And there are supporters of FSD who have credited the feature with not only saving them from dangerous potential collisions, but also making often-stressful driving much more pleasant. A Tesla owner in China shared remarkable footage showing FSD thriving in difficult conditions.

Tesla laid out the selling points of FSD: "No constant micro-adjustments in rush hour traffic. No frustration. Car does it all for you."

Not everyone has had the same experience with FSD, as there are drivers who anecdotally say the tech has made inexplicable maneuvers into traffic, and YouTuber Mark Rober went viral showing Tesla's Autopilot system, which relies on the same hardware as FSD, fail to stop the vehicle from crashing into a wall painted to look like additional road. 

Rober's main criticism is that Tesla uses only cameras, albeit with great software, instead of including any radar or lidar detection. Tesla's China rollout also faced challenges with drivers getting fines as the result of system errors.

Tesla is clearly undeterred by these developments, as they are looking to go a step further by introducing Unsupervised FSD to Austin by June. Two of their Gigafactory locations already use the tech for operations, and through the criticism, Tesla is moving forward quickly.

The company's X account closed its messages on the topic by promoting those latest developments.

Would you trust a self-driving car to take you to work every day? For sure 👍 Maybe someday 🤔 I'm not sure 🤷 Never in a million years 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"Now imagine how you'd feel if not having to supervise at all, while still getting from A to B in comfort & style & for very little $," they wrote. "That's Robotaxi. And it's coming."

While Tesla is dealing with struggling sales numbers in 2025 and may have lost some potential customers permanently, a successful launch of Unsupervised FSD and the Robotaxi in Austin and later California could certainly help change the narrative.

Teslarati commenters had mixed feelings on FSD.

"I use it all of the time and would not buy a car that does not have AI4 hardware," one wrote.

"In city driving, FSD Supervised is far more tiring than driving yourself, because it is the equivalent of being a driving instructor for a teenage student driver," a user countered.

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