Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sharply criticized rival Waymo, labeling the company’s driverless vehicles as “pet destroyers” during a recent livestream. Musk used the occasion to highlight a new Tesla robotaxi update designed to improve animal detection in challenging nighttime driving conditions.
The remarks were made during a Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley livestream on Saturday, where Musk discussed the company’s ongoing testing of its robotaxis ahead of expansion into new metropolitan areas.
“Maybe what a lot of people don’t know is that Waymos are like pet destroyers,” Musk said during the stream. “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.”
Elon Musk is pictured next to a Tesla Cybercab, the company’s dedicated robotaxi vehicle. (Chesnot/Getty Images and Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Musk elaborated on the technical difficulties of detecting small animals, such as gray kittens, against gray pavement under low-light conditions. He noted that Tesla has actively worked to solve this specific challenge through software updates, testing the changes before deploying them to the fleet.
Despite Musk’s claims, the company has not yet provided a specific rollout timeline or empirical data demonstrating the reliability of Tesla’s animal detection systems in avoiding collisions.
The debate over autonomous vehicle safety was brought into sharp focus in October 2025, when a Waymo vehicle struck and killed a beloved cat named KitKat near Randa’s Market in San Francisco. The incident drew significant local backlash and highlighted the challenges self-driving cars face in detecting small, fast-moving animals.
KitKat, a beloved local cat at Randa’s Market in San Francisco, was tragically killed by a Waymo vehicle in October 2025. (KTVU / Fox News)
The store owner reported that the cat was struck by the autonomous vehicle. Waymo stated that the cat had darted underneath its vehicle as the car pulled away after stopping to pick up passengers. The company expressed deep sympathy for the owner and the local community, announcing plans to make a donation to an animal rights organization in memory of KitKat.
A memorial sign honors KitKat, reflecting the community’s grief following the tragic incident in October 2025. (KTVU / Fox News)
Animal collisions are a growing concern for both developers of autonomous ride-hailing services. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported between July 2025 and July 2026, Waymo documented at least nine crashes involving animals, six of which involved domestic animals. During the same period, Tesla reported one animal collision involving a supervised robotaxi. Tesla’s fleet was smaller at the time, with most of its driverless operations concentrated in Austin, Texas.
A Tesla robotaxi is captured driving along South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, where the company’s early driverless operations are concentrated. (Reuters/Joel Angel Juarez / Reuters)
The NHTSA has cautioned that differences in reporting standards, operational geography, and vehicle configurations make direct safety comparisons between competing companies difficult.
Beyond animal detection, Musk emphasized that Tesla is carefully mapping dangerous or confusing intersections—particularly railroad crossings—before expanding its robotaxi service to new cities. The goal is to ensure the vehicles can navigate complex urban environments safely or avoid them entirely during the initial phases of launch.
FOX Business reached out to Waymo for comment on Musk’s remarks.
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