Tesla plans to license its Autopilot technology to other auto companies

Tesla, which is the top brand in electric vehicles and has an edge in autopilot capabilities, has decided to outsource its technology to other automobile manufacturers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the same on the company's Q4 earnings call on Wednesday, adding that the company has already had some preliminary discussions about licensing Autopilot to other OEMs.

Last year, Tesla rolled out its "Full self-driving" mode or FSD version of the Autopilot. The earlier standard autopilot feature available was generic advanced driver assistance (ADAS), which provided advanced cruise control capabilities designed primarily for use in highway commutes. Musk is confident in the Autopilot's FSD capabilitiesas it awaits approval before entering into any licensing agreements with any major other manufacturers.

Musk is also clear about his philosophy, not to create walled gardens overall, and pointed out that the company is planning to allow other automakers to use its Supercharger networks, as well as its autonomy software. He considers Tesla as more than happy to license those autonomous technologies to other car companies. One of the main concerns regarding Tesla's approach to Autopilot is the lack of use of LiDAR sensors and wholly relying on neural network training. Elon Musk is vocal about not including highly precise sensors for consumer cars, as he considers it an overkill, which raises the overall production cost.

Speaking about the reliability of neural networks, musk said, "Training huge quantities of video data will help Tesla push the reliability of its software from 100% that of a human driver, to 200% and eventually to "2,000% better than the average human."