“Our goal is, and I feel pretty good about this goal, that we’ll be able to do a demonstration drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York, from home in LA to let’s say dropping you off in Time Square in New York, and then having the car go park itself, by the end of next year [2017],” he said on a press call today. “Without the need for a single touch, including the charger.”
No, it's taken much longer than that. But Musk is far closer to this goal than anyone else.
Other solutions rely on geo-fenced known areas, LIDAR sensors (which will never understand the whole picture e.g. coloured traffic lights), and non-generalised AI. What Tesla is shooting for is much more ambitious, and much more likely to succeed in my opinion.
Why be pedantic about forward-looking announcements, rather than celebrating the incredible things Tesla AI has acheived so far (and continues to acheive)? The cars can now navigate competently through city streets. That was sci-fi just a few years ago.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/19/musk-targeting-coast-to-co...
Would you say this promise has been fulfilled?