Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk doubled down on his longtime skepticism of LiDAR technology on Thursday following the videos of YouTubers testing his EV vehicles against a ‘Wile E. Coyote' fake wall challenge.
What Happened: Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to repeat a key pillar of Tesla's self-driving vision: cameras and AI are all you need.
"People don't shoot lasers out of their eyes to drive," Musk wrote, sharing an old clip from Tesla's 2019 Autonomy Day. "Just try Tesla self-driving today, which just uses cameras and AI, and you will understand."
In the video, Musk called LiDAR a "fool's errand," saying, "Anyone relying on LiDAR is doomed. Doomed! Expensive sensors that are unnecessary… like having a whole bunch of expensive appendices."
Unlike competitors such as Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Waymo and General Motors Co.'s GM Cruise, Tesla has famously avoided using LiDAR, opting instead for a vision-based system.
However, in a twist, a 2024 earnings report from LiDAR manufacturer Luminar revealed that Tesla had quietly become its biggest customer. The EV giant accounted for over 10% of Luminar's first-quarter revenue, totaling more than $2 million.
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Why It's Important: Musk's latest statement on LiDAR came just weeks after a YouTube video by Mark Rober, known for his science and engineering experiments, surfaced.
The video tested Tesla's camera-only Autopilot/FSD system against a LiDAR-based setup powered by Luminar's technology.
The results indicated that the LiDAR system outperformed the camera-based approach, mainly due to its superior performance in fog and rain, where visibility is reduced.
In response to Rober’s Tesla fake wall test, creator Kyle Paul shared his video aiming to explore whether the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system can detect a Wile E. Coyote-style road obstruction in real-world conditions.
In Paul's experiment, the Model Y running FSD version 12.5.4.2 performed no better than in Rober's test—requiring manual intervention to avoid crashing into the fake wall, which appeared less convincing to the human eye. However, Tesla saw a glimmer of success with the Cybertruck, running FSD version 13.2.8, which successfully detected the obstruction and slowed down, ultimately coming to complete stop.
Meanwhile, China has also made significant progress in lidar innovation. According to Tokyo-based Patent Result, Chinese companies have filed over 25,000 lidar-related patent applications since 2000—far more than the 18,000 from American firms or the 13,000 from Japanese companies, reported Nikkei Asia in 2024.
Chinese firms like Hesai Technology and RoboSense now dominate the global lidar market. Hesai, which supplies companies like GM Cruise and Baidu Inc. BIDU, held a 47% market share in 2022.
Last month, it was reported that Hesai Technology Inc. HSAI enhanced collaboration with Chinese EV giant BYD Co. Ltd. BYDDY BYDDF.
Under the agreement, Hesai will supply LiDAR sensors for over 10 of BYD's upcoming models, which are set for mass production in 2025.
Previously, it was reported that Tesla’s sales in China dropped to 30,688 units in February 2025, marking the lowest monthly figure since July 2022.
Price Action: Tesla shares rose 0.39% on Thursday, closing at $273.13, before dipping 0.12% to $272.80 in after-hours trading. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen 27.99%, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Benzinga's Edge Rankings give Tesla (TSLA) a 68.11% growth rating. Want to see how it compares to other companies? Click here for the full breakdown.
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