Tesla is removing the option to pay a one-time fee for its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance software, CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday. Going forward, the only way to access the feature will be through a monthly subscription.

The change represents a major break from how Tesla has sold access to the advanced driver assistance suite over the years. It’s also a decision that could have an impact on Tesla’s bottom line, Musk’s ability to unlock the full value of his $1 trillion pay package, and the company’s ever-swirling legal troubles. And it comes as many other global automakers are making progress on their own advanced driver assistance systems in hopes of competing with Tesla.

Tesla has sold access to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software suite — which still does not make a car completely autonomous, and requires human supervision — at various price points over the years. The up-front price peaked at $15,000 in 2022, though more recently the company has been charging customers $8,000.

Tesla started offering access to the software via a $199-per-month subscription in 2021, and it dropped that price to just $99-per-month in 2024. Musk often encouraged customers to pay the up-front price, though, as he claimed the cost of FSD would increase dramatically as Tesla added to its capabilities.

But on Wednesday, Musk wrote in a post on X that Tesla will stop selling FSD outright starting on February 14. He didn’t say whether Tesla plans to change the pricing structure for the subscription.

Musk also did not offer an explanation for the change, but there are a few possible reasons. Musk and other Tesla executives have spoken publicly about how the adoption rate is lower than they had hoped. In October 2025, chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja said only 12% of all Tesla customers have paid for FSD. Shifting to a subscription-only model with a lower up-front cost could help boost those numbers, especially during a first quarter that is expected to be rough for Tesla.

Boosting subscriptions would also get Musk closer to fulfilling one of the key “product goals” required for him to receive the full payout of his new $1 trillion pay package. The company has tasked him with, among other things, reaching “10 million active FSD subscriptions” (measured daily over a three-month period) before late 2035.

Moving to a subscription-only model could also be a legal hedge.

For a decade, Musk and Tesla promoted the idea that customers were buying cars that had all the hardware required to become autonomous vehicles, and that all the company needed to do was improve the software. But that was not true: Tesla has had to make a number of upgrades inside its vehicles in the years since, and Musk himself has said that a huge portion of existing owners (those with so-called “Hardware 3” vehicles) would likely need new hardware in their cars.

FSD was sold under this same promise. Customers who bought the software outright would eventually get a software update that would make their cars full autonomous. Tesla has still not fulfilled that promise.

Tesla currently faces all kinds of legal trouble related to these unmet promises. In December, a judge ruled that the company engaged in deceptive marketing around FSD (and its less-capable system, Autopilot) and ordered the California DMV (which brought the case) to suspend Tesla’s manufacturing and dealer licenses in the state for 30 days.

The DMV stayed the order and gave Tesla at least 60 days to comply by changing the names of those products, or ship software that delivers on the promise.

Tesla also faces a range of class action lawsuits over the claims it made about the future autonomous capabilities of its vehicles. By removing the option to buy FSD outright, the company could be capping any potential liabilities in those lawsuits should they proceed to trial.

Tesla’s FSD is still regarded as the most capable driver-assistance software on the market in the U.S. But the company’s success hasn’t stopped competitors from trying to develop their own systems. Rivian recently detailed its own efforts to release FSD-like driver assistance software, starting with a major geographic expansion to its hands-free driving feature. Ford and General Motors have their own hands-free systems. And the many rival automakers Tesla competes with in China have been developing their own solutions, with some even offering their driver assistance features as a standard option.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul plans to introduce legislation that would effectively legalize robotaxis in the state — except for its most populous metropolis: New York City. 

Hochul, who made the comments Tuesday during her State of the State address, said the legislation would advance the next phase of the state’s autonomous vehicle pilot program. 

Details on the proposed legislation and when it might be released are thin. However, there are some hints contained within a document that outlines an array of proposals and promises Hochul made in her State of the State address. 

Among them is language to expand the state’s existing AV pilot program to allow for “the limited deployment of commercial for-hire autonomous passenger vehicles outside New York City.” 

The document goes on to say companies that want to operate robotaxi services commercially will have to submit applications that “demonstrate local support for AV deployment and adherence to the highest possible safety standards.”

It’s not clear what “limited deployment” or “highest possible safety standards” mean. Nor does the document outline how the state will track or make judgments on a company’s safety record, except that multiple agencies will be involved, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Transportation, and New York State Police.

The governor’s office told TechCrunch more will be shared in the governor’s executive budget proposal that is set to be released on January 20.

Still, the remarks were enough of an opening to make Alphabet-owned Waymo cheer. 

“Governor Hochul’s proposal to legalize fully autonomous vehicles is a transformative moment for New York’s transportation system,” Justin Kintz, Waymo’s head of global public policy, said in an emailed statement.

“With the Governor’s leadership, New York has the opportunity to pair its investments in slower speeds, better traffic enforcement, and first-in-the-nation congestion management strategies with Waymo’s demonstrably safe technology, creating a future where living in New York is safer, easier, and more accessible. We’re ready to work with leaders around the state to make this future a reality, and bring new infrastructure, career opportunities, and investment to the Empire State,” said Kintz.

Waymo and other companies have tried for years to enter New York state with limited success. Current New York state law mandates that drivers keep one hand on the wheel at all times. That poses a problem for robotaxi operators like Waymo since no human is behind the wheel — if there is a steering wheel at all.

The state’s AV pilot program has provided an exemption to that rule, theoretically allowing companies to develop and test autonomous vehicles in the state.

Still, there are significant hurdles, particularly in New York City. Last August, city regulators granted a permit to Waymo to test its robotaxis in the densely populated city. Under that permit, Waymo can deploy up to eight of its Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn with a human safety operator behind the wheel. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that the permit has been extended until March 31.

Even with the permit, Waymo can’t carry passengers or operate a commercial robotaxi service without getting separate licenses from the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.

And while legislation was introduced last year to create a framework for driverless operation, it has languished in the state Senate’s transportation committee. The governor’s proposal could help loosen that bottleneck.