“I think we will be ‘feature-complete’ on full self-driving this year, meaning the car will be able to find you in a parking lot, pick you up, take you all the way to your destination without an intervention this year,” Musk said during a podcast interview with the money management firm ARK Invest, which is a Tesla investor. “I am certain of that. That is not a question mark.”

Yep. Not a promise by any understanding of the word. He’s just saying what he thinks.

He's not some random person. He's the CEO and driving force behind a company that is investing billions in getting to FSD.

If he "thinks" it is achievable with that short timeframe, he must have a project plan with milestones being predictably achieved in accordance with that schedule.

If instead there's no such plan, or the progress is not in line with prior internal expectations, he doesn't "think" it is achievable, he wishes it, and it is unlikely to be achieved by that time.

Whether it is a promise or not isn't the point!

He said very clearly what he thinks is achievable. Full self driving in dev vehicles. No argument there. The OP was extrapolating this to other levels. What exactly do you have an issue with?