Ever since Tesla introduced its deceptively named Full Self-Driving feature, the automaker has insisted that the software is technically a beta version that just anyone can use and is still being tested. You know, because it’s normal to work out the kinks on public roads alongside other people who never consented to be part of a beta test. But when Version 12 of FSD rolls out, Tesla will no longer consider it to be a beta version anymore.
On Monday, a Tesla fan account tweeted that FSD Beta 12 would likely be deployed later this year. So in actuality, probably sometime around 2025 since, you know, it’s Tesla. The next day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took time away from stealing memes and boosting far-right propaganda to respond, saying that actually, FSD Version 12 “won’t be beta.”
So there you have it. Full autonomy is about to be solved, and sometime next year, there will be hundreds of thousands of truly self-driving cars on American roads that have no need for a driver. We’re only months away from the robotaxi revolution! Or, you know, FSD will just be even more deceptively named than it already is, and it still won’t actually be capable of full self-driving. Something tells us the latter is a safer bet.
Earlier this month, we reported that NHTSA found that cars using Tesla’s so-called Autopilot software had been involved in 736 crashes, resulting in 17 deaths since the driver-assistance feature was rolled out in 2014. Eleven of those deaths have come since May 2022. NHTSA also found that Tesla drivers were having “more severe — and fatal — crashes than people in a normal data set.”
Between NHTSA’s report and all the videos of Teslas driving erratically and dangerously while FSD is engaged, we’re crossing our fingers that Version 12 gets the typical Tesla treatment and ends up delayed for years.