Elon Musk Lauds Ashok Elluswamy for Key Role in Tesla’s AI Success
Elon Musk Lauds Ashok Elluswamy.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, recently expressed his profound gratitude to Ashok Elluswamy, the first person hired for Tesla’s autopilot team, for his indispensable contributions to the company’s advancements in AI and autopilot technology. In a heartfelt tweet, Musk credited Elluswamy with playing a crucial role in Tesla’s journey from being just another car company to becoming a leader in autonomous vehicle technology.
Musk’s appreciation came in response to a detailed note by Elluswamy on X (formerly Twitter), where Elluswamy praised Musk’s visionary leadership and relentless drive. “Thanks Ashok! Ashok was the first person to join the Tesla AI/Autopilot team and ultimately rose to lead all AI/Autopilot software. Without him and our awesome team, we would just be another car company looking for an autonomy supplier that doesn’t exist,” Musk tweeted, emphasizing the unique contributions of Elluswamy and the team.
Elluswamy’s note shed light on the early challenges and significant milestones in the development of Tesla’s autopilot system. He recounted how, back in 2014, the autopilot technology was built on a minimalistic computer with only 384 KB of memory, lacking even basic floating-point arithmetic capabilities. Despite these limitations, Musk set ambitious goals, asking the engineering team to implement advanced features like lane keeping, lane changing, and longitudinal control for vehicles. “Many, even in the team, thought that the request was crazy. Nonetheless, he never gave up and pushed the team to achieve this very difficult goal,” wrote Elluswamy. Against all odds, Tesla succeeded in shipping the world’s first autopilot system in 2015, with competing products lagging years behind.
The development journey saw another significant shift in 2016 when Tesla decided to develop all computer vision tasks for autopilot in-house, moving away from external vendors. This decision, initially met with skepticism, proved to be a game-changer. Elluswamy noted, “In 2016, Tesla started doing all of the computer vision required for Autopilot in-house instead of depending on external vendors. Many people thought it was insane to bet the product on developing the vision system from scratch within a few months, which had taken other companies a decade or more. Yet, we achieved this target within eleven months.” This strategic move marked the beginning of a robust AI development team at Tesla.
Elluswamy also highlighted Musk’s foresight in the realm of AI hardware. Tesla’s custom silicon, designed to efficiently run neural networks, was initially developed in 2017 and came into production in 2019. This hardware remains competitive with the latest offerings from other companies, underscoring Musk’s forward-thinking approach. “Not only did he push for strong AI software, but also for powerful AI hardware,” Elluswamy explained.
A significant part of Tesla’s strategy under Musk’s leadership involved focusing on vision-based AI for autonomy, rather than relying on sensors and high-definition maps. This approach, once ridiculed by many experts, has now been vindicated. Elluswamy stated, “He [Elon Musk] was the one who bet on vision and AI to solve autonomy instead of relying on sensor crutches and high-definition maps.” By shipping millions of Teslas equipped with this technology, the company has proven its critics wrong, demonstrating the effectiveness of AI in handling complex driving scenarios.
Moreover, Elluswamy credited Musk with initiating the development of humanoid robots at Tesla in 2021, well ahead of the broader rise of AI technologies like ChatGPT. He concluded his note by praising Musk’s unparalleled technical intuition and perseverance. “Elon is critical for Tesla’s success in AI. It is his combination of deep technical understanding, insane perseverance and relentless hard work that have positioned Tesla to be a leader in real-world AI,” Elluswamy wrote.Elluswamy’s account not only highlights the technical achievements and innovative milestones reached by Tesla but also underscores Elon Musk’s pivotal role in driving these advancements.