Musk Takes A Swipe At Slow-Moving Legacy Automakers: 'Will Probably Take Major Car Companies About Three Years'

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk on Sunday took yet another dig at the slow pace of legacy automakers.

What Happened: “Designing in the cameras, liquid-cooled Tesla computer (always go liquid-cooled!) and high-security internet gateway will probably take major car companies about three years,” Musk wrote.

The CEO was responding to an X.com user who opined that it would still take Ford Motor Co F years to integrate autopilot into its vehicles even if Tesla handed over the entire Autopilot source code to them.

“We want to be helpful, as we were with making our patents available for free, as well as our advancers charging connector,” Musk wrote in his reply. He added that legacy automakers might also benefit from Tesla’s online vehicle management system on the server side.

Why It Matters: Only last week, Musk noted the slow pace of transition to EVs by legacy automakers.  "Some companies do understand, but their pace of change is nonetheless slow," Musk wrote on X.com. The CEO was responding to a user who said that legacy automotive companies are about to have their ‘Kodak moment.'

"It is unfortunately trending that way for many automakers," Musk then said.

Despite Musk’s seeming eagerness to part with Tesla’s knowledge base, it was reported earlier this month that the EV giant might take its competitor Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN to trial over alleged theft of trade secrets. Filed in 2020, Tesla’s lawsuit alleges that Rivian hired its former employees, who in turn passed on to the startup documents comprising “highly sensitive trade secret, confidential, and proprietary engineering information.”

Tesla expanded the lawsuit in 2021, claiming that Rivian stole core technology related to its next-gen batteries. Rivian, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing.

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