Tesla has officially discontinued its basic Autopilot driver-assistance system, a strategic move aimed at accelerating the adoption of its more advanced Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. This significant shift comes as the electric vehicle giant navigates a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and dealer licenses in California, stemming from a ruling that found Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing practices regarding the capabilities of both Autopilot and FSD.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) initiated the case, leading to a December judge's ruling that Tesla had overstated its driver-assistance technology's capabilities for years. While the DMV initially stayed the license suspension for 60 days to allow Tesla to comply, the discontinuation of the "Autopilot" name appears to be a direct response to this regulatory pressure.
Previously, Autopilot combined Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which maintains a set speed and distance from vehicles ahead, with Autosteer, a lane-centering feature. Tesla's online configurator now states that new cars only come standard with Traffic Aware Cruise Control, though the impact on existing customers remains unclear.
This change follows another major announcement: starting February 14, Tesla will cease offering a one-time purchase option for its FSD software. Instead, customers will only be able to access FSD through a monthly subscription, currently priced at $99 – though Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on Thursday that the subscription price will increase as the software’s capabilities improve.
Musk has long championed the vision of "unsupervised" driving, suggesting that FSD advancements will eventually allow drivers to "be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride." In December, he claimed a new version of FSD allowed for texting while driving, a practice that remains illegal in almost all U.S. states.
Further showcasing its commitment to advanced autonomous technology, Tesla recently rolled out the first robotaxi versions of its Model Y SUVs in Austin, Texas. These vehicles operate without human safety monitoring personnel, utilizing a more advanced version of Tesla's driving software, though they are currently followed by company cars for supervision.
Tesla launched the beta version of its Full Self-Driving software in late 2020, but adoption has consistently lagged behind executive expectations. In October 2025, Tesla’s chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja stated that only 12% of all Tesla customers had paid for the software. Hitting "10 million active FSD subscriptions" by 2035 is one of the key "product goals" required for Musk to receive the full payout of his new $1 trillion pay package.
Autopilot, first introduced in the early 2010s after unsuccessful talks between Musk and Google's then-nascent autonomous driving division (which later became Waymo), became standard on all Tesla vehicles in April 2019. Throughout its decade-plus existence, Tesla faced persistent criticism for overstating the software’s capabilities. This led to drivers becoming overly confident in its abilities, contributing to hundreds of crashes and at least 13 fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
