Musk Declares Waymo 'Never Had a Chance' as Robotaxi Rivalry Heats Up

Overview

• Elon Musk posted that "Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla," replying to Google/DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean on X.
• Dean countered by citing Waymo’s 96 million rider‑only autonomous miles and published safety results, including large reductions in injury and airbag‑deployment crashes versus human drivers.
• Morgan Stanley research this week projected Tesla and Waymo could capture nearly 70% of autonomous miles by 2032, estimating roughly 360,000 miles per accident for Waymo and about 50,000 for Tesla’s early robotaxi data.
• The bank also estimated Tesla’s current robotaxi cost at about $0.81 per mile versus $1.36–$1.43 for Waymo, with Waymo expected to narrow the gap as next‑gen hardware scales around 2027.
• Tesla’s paid robotaxi pilot in Austin still uses a safety operator, and Musk reiterated plans to remove operators before year‑end, while recent reporting tallied roughly 30 Tesla pilot vehicles in Austin and 120 in the Bay Area versus more than 2,500 Waymo vehicles nationwide as of late November.