Tesla enthusiasts can look forward to a significant innovation in the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system: CEO Elon Musk has announced on X (formerly Twitter) that drivers will be able to use the AI Grok to control the vehicle and its navigation more explicitly in about three months. This feature, expected to arrive around September, will enable a deeper integration of Grok into FSD.
What is Grok and how will it be integrated into FSD?
Grok is an AI language model developed by xAI, another company by Elon Musk. It is designed to understand natural language and act accordingly. In the planned FSD integration, drivers could say, for example, "Grok, park me in a shady spot" or "Grok, take me to the nearest Tesla Service Center," and the vehicle would execute these commands. This would be a significant expansion of the current voice control, which is limited to predefined commands.
The "Banish" Feature (Parking Update)
In parallel, Musk confirmed the development of the so-called "Banish" feature, which is also expected in about three months. This function allows the vehicle to autonomously find a parking spot and park itself after the driver exits. The driver can drop the car off at a door, and it will independently find a suitable parking spot. If no parking spot is available, the vehicle circles around or returns to the starting point. This feature was already presented at the "We, Robot" event in October 2024 for the Tesla Cybercab.
Timeline and Significance for Europe
The announcement underscores Tesla's ambition to make FSD increasingly autonomous. While the Grok integration still requires a driver to monitor decisions, the Banish feature is a step toward full autonomy. This is particularly interesting for Europe, where Tesla is still awaiting approval for FSD in its complete form. Also read: Dutch Authority RDW Confirms Safety of Tesla FSD Before European Approval and Tesla Advertises in Europe with Controversial Safety Data for FSD System.
Hardware Requirements
It is expected that both the Grok integration and the Banish feature will be available on vehicles with Hardware 3 (HW3) and HW4. However, the computing power of HW3 may reach its limits with AI-powered functions. Tesla is working to optimize efficiency.