Former Tesla AI Lead Andrej Karpathy Praises FSD HW4 as 'Flawless'
Andrej Karpathy, the former head of artificial intelligence at Tesla Inc., has voiced his profound admiration for the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, particularly its latest iteration powered by HW4 hardware.
Karpathy shared his experience on social media, describing a recent drive in his new Tesla Model X as exceptionally smooth and confident, marking a significant improvement over previous versions. He likened the sensation of the FSD system to being in a "super high-tech Maglev train pod," underscoring its advanced capabilities. He noted the system's adept handling of complex situations, including navigating oncoming vehicles in narrow lanes, correctly interpreting stop signs, and safely maneuvering around buses and through four-way stops. This positive assessment comes after his earlier observation that fully autonomous driving remained an unsolved challenge even after a decade of development.
Despite Karpathy's praise, Tesla's FSD system faces ongoing scrutiny. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation into approximately 2.88 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD or Autopilot, following numerous reports of traffic infractions and accidents. Furthermore, Tesla's Autopilot Driving Visualization software has encountered challenges in adapting to diverse road conditions, exemplified by its confusion of "tuk-tuks" with motorcycles in Mumbai, India. This highlights the need for further calibration to suit varied global environments. Nevertheless, Elon Musk continues to champion the FSD system, asserting its potential for rapid global adoption and its capacity to bring autonomous driving features to existing vehicles through software updates alone. Tesla generally performs well in market momentum and quality metrics, with satisfactory growth, although its value metrics are less favorable. The company also exhibits positive price trends across short, medium, and long terms.
Innovation and technological advancement, particularly in fields like autonomous driving, hold immense potential to transform our daily lives, making transportation safer and more efficient. While challenges and regulatory hurdles are inevitable in pioneering such complex systems, the continuous pursuit of excellence and the commitment to refining these technologies promise a future where advanced mobility solutions can positively impact society on a global scale. The journey towards fully autonomous vehicles, though intricate, is a testament to human ingenuity and the drive to create a better, more connected world.