TLDR
- Elon Musk said Nvidia’s new autonomous driving models won’t compete with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology for 5 to 6 years or longer.
- Nvidia unveiled Alpamayo at CES 2026, an open-source AI model family for autonomous vehicles that uses camera-based video input.
- Musk argued that legacy automakers need years to design and integrate cameras and AI computers into production vehicles at scale.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praised Tesla’s FSD stack as “world-class” and “the most advanced AV stack in the world.”
- Tesla operates a limited robotaxi service in Austin and a ride-hailing service in San Francisco with drivers present at all times.
Elon Musk dismissed concerns about Nvidia’s newly announced autonomous driving technology. The Tesla CEO said it will take 5 to 6 years before the chip maker’s software poses any real threat to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system.
BREAKING: Elon Musk says he genuinely wants NVIDIA to succeed with its self driving video and autonomous driving technology.
This is what true friends do. Wishing success even when competing at the highest level. Innovation wins when everyone pushes forward. pic.twitter.com/0UXNHTkeWR
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) January 6, 2026
Nvidia announced Alpamayo on Monday at the CES conference in Las Vegas. The open-source AI model family is designed for autonomous vehicle development. The system applies what Nvidia calls “humanlike thinking” to handle complex urban driving scenarios.
Musk responded to the announcement on X. He explained that achieving safer-than-human driving capabilities takes several years. He added that legacy automakers face another delay after that.
“The legacy car companies won’t design the cameras and AI computers into their cars at scale until several years after that,” Musk wrote. He concluded the competitive pressure might arrive in 5 to 6 years, “but probably longer.”
The Tesla CEO pointed out another challenge for Nvidia’s technology. He said getting to 99% accuracy is the easy part. The hard part is solving what he called “the long tail of the distribution.”
Nvidia’s Approach to Self-Driving
Nvidia demonstrated Alpamayo by navigating a Mercedes through Las Vegas streets. The system uses camera-based video input to make driving decisions. Nvidia describes it as a vision language action model.
Huang explained that Nvidia takes a different approach than Tesla. The company develops full autonomous vehicle stacks for other automakers. They don’t manufacture the self-driving cars themselves.
“Our system is really quite pervasive because we’re a technology platform provider,” Huang said during a Q&A on Tuesday. He praised Musk’s FSD technology despite the competitive positioning.
Tesla’s Self-Driving Strategy
FSD remains central to Tesla’s long-term vision and revenue growth plans. The company launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas last summer. Tesla also runs a ride-hailing service in San Francisco.
The San Francisco service keeps a driver behind the wheel at all times. Musk has been promising fully self-driving cars for over a decade.
The Tesla CEO said last August that the company is training a new FSD model. The technology continues to operate in supervised mode. Drivers must remain attentive and ready to take control.
Huang called Tesla’s FSD stack “state-of-the-art” during his Bloomberg interview. “I think Elon’s approach is about as state-of-the-art as anybody knows of autonomous driving and robotics,” he said. He added that he wouldn’t criticize Tesla’s approach and encouraged them to continue their current strategy.
Musk’s timeline suggests he sees a long runway before competition intensifies. The gap between partial autonomy and truly safer-than-human driving remains years away according to his assessment. Legacy automakers then face additional years integrating the necessary hardware into production vehicles at scale.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
