Elon Musk admits that Tesla Robotaxis have a 'cat problem'
Elon Musk has revealed that Tesla's Robotaxi service faces operational limitations at night due to the difficulty its camera-only system has in detecting small animals in low-light conditions. This technical challenge has forced the company to restrict operating hours as it struggles to distinguish low-contrast objects like pets on dark pavement.
Why it matters
The admission highlights a significant safety and technical hurdle for Tesla's vision-only autonomous driving approach compared to competitors using lidar and radar sensors.
Elon Musk has acknowledged that Tesla’s Robotaxi service is struggling to operate late into the night because its vehicles have trouble spotting small animals in the dark -- a challenge highlighting long-standing criticisms of the company’s camera-only autonomous driving system. Addressing why the service has been slow to expand after dark, Tesla CEO pointed to low-light, low-contrast detection as the key obstacle, specifically citing the difficulty of identifying "grey kittens on grey tarmac."The remarks came after Tesla announced recently that its Austin Robotaxi pilot would extend operating hours by another one hour, moving its night time up from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Despite the incremental gain, the service remains more constrained than when it debuted in June 2025 with operating hours spanning 6:00 AM to midnight.
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