Will Elon finally deliver on his self-driving promises?

Elon Musk, king of empty promises, now has to pony up. The Tech titan and online troll has been promising fully autonomous vehicles since 2016. After almost a decade of being constantly (and allegedly) on the cusp of delivering this revolutionary piece of technology, he says it’s finally here.

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Later today, Musk is expected to reveal “robotaxi,” a self-driving car that owners can let roam free, racking up fares from riders. This combination of “ Uber and Airbnb ” will, according to Musk, make Tesla a USD tn company. The car, designed similarly to the infamous Cybertruck, is eight years past its deadline, and its reveal will also be that of Musk’s entrepreneurial mettle.

The consensus is that expectations are low. A reveal doesn’t necessarily mean delivery. The Cybertruck was announced back in 2019 in an unveiling that smashed two of its “indestructible” windows, and missed the promised production date by two years. The Verge expects his ever-optimistic investors to swoon, and safety experts to warn the Trump supporter’s fans against buying an objectively unpredictable and unsafe car.

Is Elon just ahead of his time? His lofty promises (like being able to sleep in the driver seat of your Tesla) are seldom backed by the capabilities of technology, but driverless technology already exists — although imperfect and in its early stages. Just ask Waymo. Musk’s ambitious (or grandiose) claims tend to shoot past trial and error, refusing to accept steady progress and instead demand the existence of the tech in his imagination. Biographer Walter Isaacson once summarized this insistence as a “tantrum” by a “mercurial man-child.”

Specialists are a little more forgiving, saying his actions are dictated by revenues rather than pure foolishness. “He’s “grasping [at] straws,” said robotics expert and former senior safety official Mary Cummings. “He’s so desperate to try to drive more money into [his company] that he’s doing things like this.”

Tesla is currently under US federal investigation for 1k crashes directly attributed to autopilot and Full Self-Driving mode.