Tesla‘s CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the company is testing a new Full Self-Driving (FSD) model, which could be “ready for public release” by the “end of next month.”
According to a post on X, “Tesla is training a new FSD model with ~10X params and a big improvement to video compression loss,” Musk wrote.
“Probably ready for public release end of next month if testing goes well,” he added.
The new model will have about 10 times more parameters, meaning it will be a larger and more powerful AI, capable of learning more complex patterns and making better driving decisions.
The improvement on video compression loss may indicate that the model preserves more of the visual detail, leading to better perception and understanding by the machine.
Despite Tesla’s focus on autonomy, only about half of the owners have tested the technology according to the company’s data.
Commenting on that, Elon Musk said late last month that “Tesla team is focused on making sure all Tesla owners try out FSD.”
A few weeks earlier, Musk had announced that the FSD would see a “step change improvement” as the company prepared to publicly release its robotaxi service.
“Your Tesla self-driving capability will see a step change improvement as we integrate upgrades for the Austin robotaxi build into the general production release,” the chief executive posted on X.
The company had yet to “validate that improvements for Austin don’t cause regressions elsewhere.”
The system is available to customers in several countries across America. In the United States, Tesla drivers can either buy it for $8,000 or subscribe for $99 per month.
The EV maker is planning to expand the system in Europe, where it is still “awaiting regulatory approval,” according to the company.
The company has already launched the FSD in China earlier this year, however stricter regulations in Europe mean that Tesla is still limited to testing the technology on the continent.
In late July, the company posted new videos on X showing the system being tested in the UK.
The company started offering paid fully driverless rides in Austin in late June, with an initial fleet of about 10 Model Ys covering a five-mile radius service area.
The company has since expanded the geofenced area of its robotaxi service in Austin twice, plus introduced a dynamic pricing system based on distance, replacing the fixed fare structure.
On the company’s earnings call in July, the chief executive said Tesla intends for the robotaxi service to be available to roughly half of the US population by year-end.
“We’re getting the regulatory permission to launch in the Bay Area, Nevada, Arizona, and a number of… Florida, a number of other places,” Musk stated.
Late last month, the service was introduced in California’s San Francisco Bay Area.
Due to stricter local regulations, the robotaxi operates with a safety monitor on the driver’s seat — as opposed to Austin, where a safety monitor is present in the vehicle, but on the passenger seat.
