It's so strange to think that people used to hold Elon Musk in such high regard. This a bold-faced lie and anyone with a passing knowledge of what "level 5 autonomy" means can tell it isn't true. I don't know what the worse violation is here, the lie or his belief that it will convince anyone.

> used to

A very large number of people still do, even here.

As a Model S and now Model 3 owner, Tesla is at least decades away from anything close to Level 5. Car still does phantom braking on freeways after what 6 years of Autopilot?

“I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year.”

This type of quote frustrates me to no end because it's obviously meant to stir up attention in the media, yet the vagueness of the language Musk uses removes any accountability to deliver. What is basic functionality for level 5 autonomy? I would define it as automated lateral and longitudinal control and a navigation system, and I would argue that quite a few auto companies have this 'basic functionality' for level 5. I would love to hear other thoughts on this!

Note that it is not mentioned under what conditions, just that "[...] will have basic functionality".

So probably something akin to Waymo's experiment in Phoenix, rather than cross-country level 5.

Then it isn't level 5.

Need to hype up the Tesla stock again.