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Elon Musk accused rival Waymo’s driverless cars of being “pet destroyers” as he touted a Tesla robotaxi update designed to spot animals in some of the toughest nighttime driving conditions.
The Tesla CEO made the remarks during a Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley livestream Saturday as he discussed testing the company’s robotaxis before expanding 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.”
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Musk described the difficulty of detecting gray kittens against gray pavement, particularly at night and in low visibility.
“So that we actually did solve that, by the way,” he said, before explaining that Tesla would make a change, test it and then deploy it.
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He did not provide a rollout date or data demonstrating how reliably Tesla’s vehicles detect animals and avoid collisions.
Waymo faced backlash after one of its driverless vehicles struck and killed KitKat, a beloved cat at a San Francisco corner store, in October 2025, according to KTVU.
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The store’s owner told the outlet that the cat was killed by a Waymo vehicle. Waymo said a cat darted underneath its vehicle as it pulled away after stopping to pick up passengers.
The company expressed sympathy for the owner and the community and said it would make a donation to a local animal rights organization in KitKat’s honor.
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Animal collisions have been reported by both companies’ robotaxi services.
Between July 2025 and July 2026, Waymo reported at least nine crashes involving animals, six of which it described as domestic animals, Business Insider reported, citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
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Tesla also reported an animal collision during that period involving a supervised robotaxi, according to Business Insider. Tesla operated a smaller fleet, with most of its driverless operations concentrated in Austin, the outlet reported.
NHTSA cautions that differences in reporting and vehicle operations limit direct comparisons between companies.
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During the livestream, Musk also said Tesla was checking for dangerous or confusing intersections before entering additional cities, with particular 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.”
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Musk said confusing intersections can cause human drivers to make mistakes, especially when they are unfamiliar with the area. Tesla wants its robotaxis to navigate those spots safely or avoid them when service first launches in a new city, he said.
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FOX Business reached out to Waymo for comment on Musk’s remarks.
