This is an episode from our upcoming Audio podcast, AI Update. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/GTRSA5565433108

It was a crisp day in Paris, the city of light turned the stage for an electric revolution as Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the floor at the VivaTech conference. He stood against the backdrop of digital innovation and an audience eager for his next revelation. With a familiar air of optimism, Musk once again pushed the narrative of Tesla's imminent breakthrough into the realm of autonomy.

"Although I've said this before, I think we will solve autonomy soon," Musk declared, words echoing around the room, drawing the world's attention to a decade-long endeavour that has long fascinated the electric vehicle industry and beyond.

Indeed, Musk has time and again voiced Tesla's audacious mission in the realm of autonomy, catapulting the EV automaker's brand image to unprecedented heights. For the past decade, the mission of achieving a fully self-driving car has taken center stage in Tesla's vision, often leading Musk to assert confidently that the company is within touching distance of this groundbreaking feat.

Central to this endeavour are Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems. They symbolize Tesla's technological prowess, however, they fall short of the Holy Grail of full autonomy. They are not there yet, where the driver can blissfully snooze while the vehicle maneuvers itself flawlessly through traffic. Tesla describes its FSD Beta as an "SAE Level 2 driver support feature," a far cry from the SAE Level 5 status that would mark true autonomy.

At the heart of this relentless pursuit of autonomy, Musk emphasized, lies the primary driver behind Tesla's formidable market valuation. "The value of the company is primarily on the basis of autonomy. That's really, I think, the main driver of our value," Musk said. This has, in recent times, pushed Tesla's stock prices through the roof, adding more than $200 billion in market value.