Elon Musk and Tesla attempt to save legacy automakers from Déjà vu

Elon Musk mentioned in late November that he’s “tried to warn” legacy automakers and “even provided to license Tesla Full Self-Driving, however they don’t need it,” expressing frustration with firms that refuse to undertake the corporate’s suite, which can ultimately be autonomous.

Tesla has lengthy established itself because the chief in self-driving know-how, particularly in the USA. Though there are formidable opponents, Tesla’s FSD suite is essentially the most sturdy and isn’t restricted to sure areas or roadways. It operates anyplace and in all places.

The corporate’s present place because the chief in self-driving tech is being ignored by legacy automakers, a parallel to what Tesla’s place was with EV growth over a decade in the past, which was additionally ignored by opponents.

The reluctance mirrors how legacy automakers initially dismissed EVs, solely to scramble in catch-up mode years later–a sample that highlights their historic underestimation of disruptive improvements from Tesla.

Elon Musk’s Self-Driving Licensing Makes an attempt

Musk and Tesla have tried to push Full Self-Driving to different automobile firms, with no true suitors, regardless of ongoing conversations for years. Tesla’s FSD is aiming to develop into extra sturdy by complete information assortment and a bigger fleet, one thing the corporate has tried to ascertain by a subscription program, free trials, and different methods.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving

Nevertheless, competing firms haven’t needed to license FSD for a handful of speculative causes: aggressive pleasure, regulatory considerations, excessive prices, or choice for in-house growth.

Déjà vu All Over Once more

Tesla tried to painting the significance of EVs way back, as within the 2010s, executives from firms like Ford and GM downplayed the significance of sustainable powertrains as area of interest or unprofitable.

Musk as soon as mentioned in a 2014 interview that rivals woke as much as electrical powertrains when the Mannequin S began to disrupt issues and gained some market share. Issues acquired actually critical upon the launch of the Mannequin 3 in 2017, as a mass-market car was what Tesla was lacking from its lineup.

This precipitated legacy firms to really get up; they had been shedding market share to Tesla’s new and thrilling tech that provided much less upkeep, a contemporary tackle passenger auto, and different benefits. They had been late to the get together, and though they’ve all launched automobiles of their very own, they nonetheless lag in two main areas: gross sales and infrastructure, leaning on Tesla for the latter.

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I’ve tried to warn them and even provided to license Tesla FSD, however they don’t need it! Loopy …

When legacy auto does sometimes attain out, they tepidly talk about implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable necessities for Tesla, so pointless. ????

? ?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2025

Musk’s previous warnings have been plentiful. In 2017, he responded to critics who acknowledged Tesla was chasing subsidies. He responded, “Few folks know that we began Tesla when GM forcibly recalled all electrical vehicles from clients in 2003 after which crushed them in a junkyard,” including that “they might be doing nothing” on EVs with out Tesla’s efforts.

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Corporations laughed off Tesla’s prowess with EVs, solely to comprehend they’d made a grave mistake afterward.

It appears to be taking place as soon as once more.

A Sample of Underestimation

Each EVs and self-driving tech characterize main paradigm shifts that legacy gamers view as threats to their established enterprise fashions; it’s laborious to vary. Nevertheless, these early push-aways from new tech solely end in reactive methods afterward, normally leading to what pains they’re going through now.

Ford is scaling again its EV effortsand GM’s tasks are hurting. Though they each have in-house self-driving tasks, they’re falling properly behind the progress of Tesla and even different opponents.

It’s getting to some extent the place short-term threat will develop into a long-term setback, and so they could must depend on an organization to drag them out of a tricky scenario afterward, simply because it did with Tesla and EV charging infrastructure.

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Tesla has continued to innovate, whereas legacy automakers have lagged behind, and it has price them dearly.

Implications and Future Outlook

Transferring ahead, Tesla’s progress will proceed to speed up, whereas a dismissive perspective by different firms will proceed to penalize them, particularly as time goes on. Falling additional behind in self-driving might ultimately result in market share erosion, as autonomy could possibly be an important a part of car advertising and marketing inside the subsequent few years.

Ultimately, firms could possibly be compelled into joint partnerships as financial pressures mount. Some firms did this with EVs, however it has not resulted in very a lot.

Self-driving efforts usually are not solely a power for firms themselves, however additionally they contribute to different issues, like affordability and security.

Tesla has exhibited information that particularly exhibits its self-driving tech is safer than human driversmost just lately by a substantial margin. This is able to assist with eliminating accidents and making roads safer.

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Tesla’s new Security Report exhibits Autopilot is 9 occasions safer than people

Moreover, competitors out there is an efficient factor, because it drives prices down and helps innovation proceed on an upward development.

Conclusion

The parallels are unmistakable: a decade in the past, legacy automakers laughed off electrical automobiles as toys for tree-huggers, crushed their very own EV applications, and wager all the pieces on the internal-combustion established order–solely to observe Tesla redefine the business whereas they scrambled for billions in catch-up capital.

Right now, the identical firms are turning down repeated presents to license Tesla’s Full Self-Driving know-how, insisting they’ll construct higher autonomy in-house, whilst their very own applications stumble by remembers, layoffs, and missed milestones. Historical past just isn’t merely rhyming; it’s repeating virtually note-for-note.

Elon Musk has spent twenty years warning that the auto business’s bureaucratic inertia and short-term considering will go away it stranded on the unsuitable facet of technological revolutions. The query is now not whether or not Tesla is forward–it’s whether or not the giants of Detroit, Stuttgart, and Toyota will lastly pay attention earlier than the following wave leaves them watching one other chief draw back within the rear-view mirror.

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This time, the stakes usually are not simply market share; they’re the very definition of what a automobile shall be within the many years forward.