Is the "Watt Moment" about to arrive? Morgan Stanley: Tesla's autonomous driving may achieve a key breakthrough
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas pointed out that Tesla is about to remove safety drivers from its autonomous taxi service in Austin, Texas, marking a potential key technological breakthrough for the company. Tesla's purely passive optical technology challenges industry traditions, and if successful, it will impact the broader field of artificial intelligence. Jonas likened this progress to James Watt's key improvements in the steam engine revolution, signaling the spillover effects of technology
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas released a research report indicating that Tesla (TSLA.US) may be at a historical turning point— the company is about to remove safety drivers from its autonomous taxi service in Austin, Texas, a move that has attracted significant market attention.
According to Jonas's team, Tesla does not require additional regulatory approval to remove safety drivers from its autonomous taxis in Texas, and its purely passive optical technology for autonomous driving challenges traditional industry perceptions—Tesla firmly believes that the addition of radar and lidar does not enhance vehicle safety.
Jonas particularly emphasized that if the challenges of autonomous driving can be solved, the technological breakthroughs could extend to broader fields of artificial intelligence and robotics, including aviation, maritime, and weapon systems, creating a technology spillover effect.
The report compares Tesla's current progress to James Watt's steam engine innovations in the mid-1760s. Although Watt was not the inventor of the steam engine, his invention of the separate condenser in 1765 addressed the core flaws of early designs related to steam and fuel waste, promoting the global adoption of the technology and accelerating the industrial revolution.
Tesla is now attempting to achieve large-scale, driverless autonomous taxi operations using a purely visual solution, and its choice of technological path resonates historically with Watt's logic of "key improvements."
