Elon Musk Claims Tesla Will Soon “Allow” Texting While Driving, Sparking Legal, Safety Concerns

Tesla’s shareholders today approved a historic, staggering trillion-dollar pay package for CEO Elon Musk, but there were several other announcements and bits of information that emerged as well. One statement getting attention is Musk’s assertion that Tesla’s Full Self Driving feature will advance enough within “a month or two” that drivers will be able to text while driving. 

Widely seen as one of the most distracting and dangerous things a driver can do, texting or even holding a smartphone while operating a vehicle is illegal in many parts of the US and the world. Musk did not clarify how he intends to address this, but seemed to be in favour of encouraging people to trust FSD enough to take their attention off the road.

Tesla does not currently offer L3 or L4 autonomous driving, the point at which humans are not required to be fully engaged and paying attention. FSD was recently rebranded to “Assisted Full Self Driving” in order to address potential claims of misleading customers about its capabilities, and emphasise that a human must be ready to override it and take control of a vehicle at any point, even if they have their hands off the steering wheel. FSD has been implicated in several accidents around the world, including fatal ones, with legal proceedings ongoing in some.

Musk’s ambitious Robotaxi ride-hailing programme still requires a human “safety driver” and several incidents of them having to assume control have been reported since the service went live in a limited area of Austin, Texas earlier this year. The two-seater Cybercab, famously demonstrated without a steering wheel at all, might now have to be redesigned to allow manual control, in keeping with current regulations. Production is reportedly on track to begin in April 2026.

Interestingly, Musk also claimed that regulators in China are set to allow FSD to roll out there fully in early 2026. This lines up with the company exhibiting a pre-production Cybercab at the ongoing China International Import Expo this week. FSD is not yet usable in India and there is no timeline for its release, although it is already being sold here and tests are reportedly ongoing.

Given the frequency of reported safety incidents, industry observers have suggested that the two-month timeline is ambitious, if not impossible. No specifics about how the company plans to achieve this were discussed, either on a technology level or with regard to allowing something that is prohibited by law. 

Musk has previously made multiple promises around full-self driving, such as claiming that a Tesla would be able to drive across the US completely on its own several years ago, and that buyers would be able to earn money by having their cars function as autonomous taxis when not in use. 

Separately at the shareholders’ meet, Musk announced another delay for its upcoming Roadster sportscar. First promised eight years ago, it will now not be unveiled till at least April 1, 2026. Mass production is not likely to begin before 2027