Musk Calls Waymo Pet Destroyers, Claims Tesla Solves Night Animal Detection

Elon Musk slammed Waymo autonomous vehicles as "pet destroyers" while pitching a Tesla robotaxi upgrade meant to spot animals in dark, low-visibility driving conditions. The Tesla boss made these comments during a Saturday livestream with Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley. He was discussing tests before expanding the fleet into new cities.

"Maybe what a lot of people don't know is that Waymos are like pet destroyers," Musk said. "Maybe Waymo has made some improvements on that front, but they do run over a lot of pets, and we don't want to run over the pets." He claimed Tesla had solved the problem of spotting hard-to-see animals against gray pavement at night.

"So that we actually did solve that, by the way," he told viewers before noting the company would test changes before deploying them. Musk offered no specific rollout date or data proving how reliably his cars detect wildlife and avoid crashes.

Waymo faced intense backlash in October 2025 after a driverless vehicle struck and killed KitKat, a beloved cat at a San Francisco corner store, according to KTVU. The shop owner told the outlet that the autonomous car hit the animal as it pulled away from picking up passengers. Waymo stated the cat darted underneath the vehicle while stopped. The company expressed sympathy for the owner and community and promised a donation to a local animal rights group in KitKat's name.

Animal collisions are not unique to one firm. Between July 2025 and July 2026, Waymo reported at least nine crashes involving animals, six of which were domestic pets, Business Insider reported citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. Tesla also logged an animal collision during that same period with a supervised robotaxi, the outlet noted. Tesla runs a smaller fleet right now, with most driverless work focused in Austin.

The NHTSA warns that differences in reporting and how vehicles operate limit direct comparisons between these companies. During the livestream, Musk said Tesla checks for dangerous or confusing intersections before entering new markets, paying special attention to railroad crossings. "Before we go to a new city, we want to make sure that there's not some intersection that's problematic or risky," he said. "We want to be particularly careful with railroad crossings."

Confusing spots can cause human drivers to err when they are unfamiliar with an area. Tesla wants its robotaxis to navigate those hazards safely or avoid them when service first launches in a new city, Musk explained. FOX Business reached out to Waymo for comment on these remarks but has not yet received a response.