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Musk's Jab: Tesla Avoids Animal Collisions
13 Oct
Summary
- Tesla's Robotaxi is designed to avoid hitting pets.
- Waymo has faced criticism for collisions with animals.
- Tesla is implementing updates to detect animals at night.
Elon Musk recently asserted that Tesla's Robotaxi technology has successfully addressed the challenge of avoiding collisions with pets. He humorously referred to rival Waymo's vehicles as "pet destroyers," suggesting they have had multiple incidents involving animals.
Waymo has indeed faced criticism for such incidents. Notably, data submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between July 2025 and July 2026 indicated at least nine reported crashes involving animals, with six involving domestic animals. One widely reported incident in October 2025 involved a feline named KitKat being run over by a Waymo vehicle.
Musk highlighted Tesla's commitment to solving this problem, even mentioning the difficulty of detecting "gray kittens on a gray tarmac with tar seams at night in low visibility." He stated that Tesla is preparing to deploy an update to enhance its Robotaxi's ability to detect roaming pets, though a specific release date was not provided.
