Elon Musk Tells Tesla Owners to Text and Drive, What’s the Worst That Can Happen – Jalopnik

With the launch of its own driverless taxi service earlier this year, Tesla made it abundantly clear that it will continue to relentlessly pursue and promise its holy grail: a truly autonomous vehicle. CEO Elon Musk told X, the social media app he owns, on Thursday that Tesla owners will be able to text and drive with the latest update to its “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software. It should go without saying that it is illegal to text and drive in all but one U.S. state, regardless of what kind of car you drive or what automated driving technology it has. Like the villains in an Indiana Jones movie, Tesla doesn’t seem to care about the potential consequences as long as the automaker moves toward its obscene goal.

FSD Version 14 was released earlier this month and introduced an ambitious set of upgrades, including improved handling of irregular driving scenarios. These situations include stopping for emergency vehicles, compensating for road debris, and human gestures. During development, Musk touted the v14 update as most important since v12 and made Tesla vehicles feeling feeling. Nothing special for the man who wants to colonize Mars with his descendants.

Depending on the context of the surrounding traffic, yes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2025

However, things veered into legally questionable territory when an owner with FSD v14 on The user openly asked if they could text and drive. Musk responded: “Depending on the context of the surrounding traffic, yes.” The answer should be no, regardless of the functionality of the software. Any reputable lawyer would tell the CEO of a car manufacturer to say no.

Tesla’s supposedly autonomous software has already been linked to several fatal crashes. After the loss of life, the incidents have proven costly for the electric car manufacturer. A Florida jury in federal court has ordered Tesla to pay $242.6 million for a 2019 crash in which an Autopilot-equipped Model S struck a Chevy Tahoe parked on a roadside. The collision left a woman dead and her boyfriend seriously injured. They were standing outside the SUV. Tesla rejected a $60 million settlement, took the case to court and paid a heavy price.