Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week, Elon Musk presented yet another one of his aggressive timelines regarding the deployment of Tesla’s autonomy suite.
"Self-driving is essentially a solved problem at this point," Musk told the audience of world leaders. "We hope to get Supervised self-driving approval in Europe next month, and hopefully similar timing for China."
While the solved problem soundbite helped to grab headlines, bolstered by the simultaneous launch of unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Austin, the real news for millions of owners in Europe lies in next month’s target.
Europe: Next Month
Elon’s comment aligns with the timeline laid out late last year in cooperation with the Dutch vehicle authority, RDW.
In November, Tesla made an announcement via X that confirmed that RDW had committed to a February 2026 timeline to review and potentially grant national-level approval for FSD (Supervised).
Tesla is pursuing a national exemption in the Netherlands. If the RDW grants approval, it effectively creates a domino effect. Other EU member states can choose to recognize that exemption immediately on an individual basis, bypassing the otherwise stagnant EU-wide legislative grind.
This approval push follows months of preparation. Tesla recently launched an FSD Ride-Along program across Europe (including Germany, France, Denmark, and others), allowing regulators and the public to experience the software firsthand. If RDW signs off next month, drivers across Europe could finally see the FSD actually launch for the first time.
China: Optimism vs Reality
Musk hopes for similar timing in China, but it faces stiffer headwinds.
While Tesla has made progress - including partnering with Chinese data giant Baidu for lane-level mapping and clearing key data security hurdles - official pushback via China’s MIIT remains. Following Elon’s comments, Chinese state media cited government sources stating that approval next month is “not true.”
The source cited ongoing safety and mapping compliance reviews, which have stalled Tesla’s rollout of FSD on an earlier-approved version of FSD v13 for AI4-equipped vehicles.
Autonomy is “Solved”
Elon’s confidence that autonomy is solved is no longer just the same rhetoric we’ve been hearing since 2016. It comes alongside Tesla finally offering unsupervised Robotaxi rides, leaps in progress with FSD v14, and further progress essentially guaranteed by in-vehicle compute leaps with AI5 in the near future.
For regulators in Europe and China, the existence of a growing driverless fleet in the US and improvements in FSD v14 may be the strongest evidence yet that FSD Supervised is ready for primetime.
The full interview with Elon Musk at the World Economic Forum can be watched below:
