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Rival Shows the Drawback in Tesla's Driverless Tech Strategy. Are They Right?

Waymo sees flaws in camera-only driverless technology systems Tesla plans to use?

Rival Shows the Drawback in Tesla's Driverless Tech Strategy. Are They Right?

Published August 16, 2026 · Category: Finance

Overview

A while back, Morgan Stanley's well-respected automotive analyst Adam Jonas evaluated Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) using a sum-of-the-parts model between artificial intelligence (AI), software, energy, and robotics rather than considering it a traditional automaker. What's interesting is that Jonas believes autonomous driving technology and the robotaxi business drive 41% of Tesla's valuation compared to 34% from its core automotive and energy business and about 25% from Optimus robot potential. So, when robotaxi rival Waymo of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) points out why Tesla's driverless technology strategy could have serious drawbacks, investors should take note.

Recently, Alphabet's Waymo co-chief executive officer, Dmitri Dolgov, seemingly took a shot at Tesla when speaking at Y Combinator's Startup School, though he didn't name the automnaker specifically. Dolgov essentially argued that camera-only self-driving technology could be considered "weak sensing" and that the strategy would develop quickly initially before hitting a lower ceiling of capability and performance long term.

Image source: Y Combinator / Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov at Startup School 2026.

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Source

Originally published at www.fool.com.

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