Tesla has discontinued Autopilot, its basic driver-assistance system, as it seeks to increase uptake of its more advanced Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software.
California Ruling And Licensing Pressure
The change follows a December ruling by a California judge that found Tesla overstated the capabilities of Autopilot and Full Self-Driving for years. The case was brought by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which has authority over Tesla’s manufacturing and dealer licenses in the state.
The ruling triggered a potential 30-day suspension of those licenses in California, Tesla’s largest U.S. market. The DMV stayed the ruling for 60 days to allow Tesla to comply by removing the Autopilot name.
What Autopilot Included
Autopilot combined two features: Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which maintains a set speed and following distance, and Autosteer, which provided lane-centering and could guide a vehicle through curves.
Tesla’s online vehicle configuration now shows that new cars come standard only with Traffic Aware Cruise Control. The company did not clarify whether the change affects existing owners.
Pricing Shift For Full Self-Driving
The decision comes one week after Tesla said it would stop charging a one-time $8,000 fee for Full Self-Driving beginning February 14. After that date, access to the software will be available only through a $99 monthly subscription.
Elon Musk said in a post on Thursday that the subscription price would increase as the software improves.
Claims About Future Driving Capability
Musk has said Tesla’s newer vehicles will eventually support unsupervised driving. He has stated that future versions of Full Self-Driving would allow drivers to be on their phones or asleep during trips.
In December, Musk said a new version of the software enabled phone use while driving, despite texting while driving being illegal in most U.S. states.
Robotaxi Deployment In Texas
On Thursday, Tesla began operating robotaxi versions of its Model Y vehicles in Austin, Texas, without human safety operators inside the cars. The vehicles are running a more advanced version of Tesla’s driving software and are monitored by company vehicles that follow them.
Adoption And Financial Stakes
Tesla launched the beta version of Full Self-Driving in late 2020, but adoption has remained below company expectations. In October 2025, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said only 12 percent of Tesla customers had purchased the software.
Reaching 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions by 2035 is listed as a product target tied to Musk receiving the full payout of his new $1 trillion compensation package.
Origins And Safety Record Of Autopilot
Tesla introduced Autopilot in the early 2010s after discussions with Google over autonomous driving technology fell apart. Google’s self-driving effort later became Waymo. Tesla made Autopilot standard on all vehicles in April 2019.
Over more than a decade, Tesla faced criticism for how it described Autopilot’s capabilities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, overconfidence in the system has been linked to hundreds of crashes and at least 13 fatalities.
Featured image credits: Flickr
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