Tesla’s Viral ‘Autonomous’ Automobile Supply Video Is Splitting the Web

Elon Musk loves a present. Tesla’s advertising machine thrives on spectacle, and on June 27, the corporate delivered one other daring show: a 30-minute video purporting to point out the first-ever absolutely autonomous supply of a Tesla car, no driver, no distant management.

“The primary absolutely autonomous supply of a Tesla Mannequin Y from manufacturing facility to a buyer residence throughout city, together with highways, was simply accomplished a day forward of schedule!!” Musk posted on X.

In a follow-up, the billionaire CEO escalated the hype: “There have been no folks within the automotive in any respect and no distant operators in management at any level. FULLY autonomous!” He added: “To one of the best of our information, that is the primary absolutely autonomous drive with no folks within the automotive or remotely working the automotive on a public freeway.”

There have been no folks within the automotive in any respect and no distant operators in management at any level. FULLY autonomous!

To one of the best of our information, that is the primary absolutely autonomous drive with no folks within the automotive or remotely working the automotive on a public freeway.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 27, 2025

Collectively, the tweets and accompanying movies amassed practically 15 million views. Tesla first posted a three-minute timelapse teaser, adopted by the total 30-minute video on June 28. In it, a Mannequin Y is seen navigating metropolis streets, freeway interchanges, and intersections, from Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin to the house of the brand new proprietor.

The automotive stops at indicators, yields at pink lights, and maneuvers via actual site visitors, all with out a human inside. The supply ends with the brand new proprietor visibly excited because the Mannequin Y rolls up, by itself, to his driveway.

Come hang around with us & Mannequin Y for 30 minutes

Full drive in 1x velocity under https://t.co/lcClc85Hsn pic.twitter.com/3Ki7StYhsA

— Tesla (@Tesla) June 28, 2025

However on-line, the response wasn’t unanimous awe.

‘Magnificent Advertising and marketing,’ or Misdirection?

Whereas Tesla followers praised the video as historic, many customers on X, the platform Musk additionally owns, pushed again laborious. “Waymo has claimed absolutely autonomous drives on highways earlier than,” one person wrote, linking to a January publish from the Google-owned self-driving firm. Waymo has quietly provided absolutely autonomous freeway service to workers in choose cities since earlier this 12 months.

Waymo has claimed absolutely autonomous drives on highways earlier thanhttps://t.co/iYxTm36OiM

— Jack Geldhart (@jackgeldhart) June 27, 2025

Others mocked the presentation as a PR stunt.

“Gorgeous! In order that they’ve simply illustrated what Robotaxi will probably be doing throughout the USA in 2026. Magnificent advertising, Tesla workforce!” one person quipped, stating that Tesla’s robotaxi pilot launched days earlier in Austin, utilizing solely a dozen automobiles and a human “supervisor” within the entrance seat. In distinction, Waymo and Cruise have provided public rides with no people within the driver’s seat for months.

Some customers even requested Grok, X’s built-in chatbot, to investigate the car’s degree of autonomy. “@grok which degree of autonomous driving is that out of what number of ranges?” requested one person, referring to the industry-standard SAE scale, which ranks self-driving capabilities from Stage 0 (no automation) to Stage 5 (absolutely autonomous in all situations, no human enter wanted).

@grok which degree of autonomous driving is that out of what number of ranges?

— P. I. (@pi1_618) June 28, 2025

Nonetheless others captured the polarization that defines Tesla discourse on-line.

“This one’s for the true followers! And for essentially the most decided haters! 😂,” somebody posted, capturing the tribal divide between Musk loyalists and skeptics.

This one’s for the true followers! And for essentially the most decided haterz!😂

— 𝕋𝕒𝕧𝕚 (@tavi_chocochip) June 28, 2025

Our Take

Tesla’s standing as one of many world’s most polarizing tech firms is absolutely on show right here. Fans hailed the video as the beginning of a brand new chapter in transportation. Detractors pointed to Musk’s lengthy historical past of damaged guarantees round autonomy, a timeline that features failed targets for robotaxi rollouts way back to 2019.

To be clear: Tesla has made actual progress with its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software program, a system that makes use of cameras, sensors, and neural networks to coach its automobiles to reply like a human driver. However the system continues to be categorised as Stage 2 autonomy, that means it requires driver supervision and isn’t legally acknowledged as absolutely autonomous.

And that’s the rub: Musk’s newest declare is exaggerated at greatest. Waymo, Cruise, and several other Chinese language firms have carried out related demos. Some, like Waymo, are already working driverless automobiles in advanced environments like downtown San Francisco.

What Tesla pulled off right here is spectacular. However whether or not it represents a breakthrough or a rigorously engineered stunt stays to be seen.

The true query now: can Tesla do that once more tomorrow? And the day after that? At rush hour? In rain? With out rerunning the identical pre-tested route?

Till these questions are answered, the skepticism will solely develop.