Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has decided to reduce the price of its 'full self-driving' (FSD) subscription by half to $99 per month. This decision has led Gene Munster, Managing Partner at Deepwater Asset Management, to predict the end of manual driving.
What Happened: Tesla has made its self-driving technology more accessible to consumers by halving its subscription price. "Somebody born today is probably never going to drive a car," Munster stated in an interview with CNBC's Last Call, suggesting that manual driving could soon become obsolete.
"Somebody born today is probably never going to drive a car," says @munster_gene after Tesla cuts its 'full self-driving' subscription in half. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/uNxRE9uX5B
— Last Call (@LastCallCNBC) April 15, 2024
This prediction comes in response to Tesla's latest move, which reflects the company's confidence in the advancement and adoption of autonomous driving technology.
Munster also stressed Tesla's potential to significantly expand its FSD technology as part of a broader revenue strategy by 2028, a point that has largely been overlooked.
Why It Matters: Tesla's decision to slash the cost of its 'full self-driving' subscription comes in the wake of a challenging period for the company. On Monday, Tesla had to lay off 10% of its global workforce following a quarter that saw a 20% drop in deliveries.
The price cut announced on Saturday reduced the monthly subscription fee for its premium driver assistance system in the U.S. from $199 to $99.
The move was well-received, with Nvidia's Senior Lead of Robotics describing Tesla's latest FSD feature as "magical."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been making significant strides in the AI industry, with his AI startup venture, xAI, open-sourcing the code of its AI chatbot Grok. This move was seen as a direct challenge to ChatGPT-parent OpenAI, a company that Musk co-founded in 2015 and left in 2018.
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