Luminar Technologies mentioned in a letter to shareholders that Tesla was their largest customer for LIDAR products in Q1 2024. However, Elon Musk’s recent comment on X indicates that Luminar may see reduced business from Tesla in the future.
Musk stated that Tesla would not need LIDAR units to collect ground truth data. Tesla’s use of LIDAR units on its ground truthing vehicles has garnered attention from critics, especially due to Musk’s previous comments about LIDAR being unnecessary for self-driving vehicles.
However, Musk clarified that he was referring to the use of LIDAR in individual vehicles and not in validating vision data. Luminar noted that Tesla’s purchase of LIDAR units has been sporadic rather than recurring, and they can only speculate about how Tesla is utilizing them.
Despite this, Tesla has been emphasizing its Full Self-Driving (FSD) efforts, with plans to unveil the company’s dedicated Robotaxi “Cybercab” on August 8, 2024.