A Tesla running FSD (Supervised) and a Waymo robotaxi can look similar from the back seat, but they’re not the same kind of ride. One still needs you. The other doesn’t need anyone at all.
Tesla’s FSD is supervised, not driverless
Tesla is explicit about this on its own FSD support page: “FSD (Supervised) is an advanced driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a fully autonomous vehicle.” The same page states plainly that “none of these advanced driver assistance features make your Tesla vehicle fully autonomous or replace you as the driver.” In an owner’s Tesla, someone still has to sit in the driver’s seat, hands ready, watching the road the entire time.
Waymo’s robotaxi has no driver at all
Waymo operates differently. Its vehicles are part of a fully driverless ride-hailing service — Waymo’s own safety page describes its cars as operating “fully autonomously, with no one in the driver’s seat,” available to riders who hail a car through its app the same way they’d hail any other ride-share. There’s no supervising human behind the wheel, because in a Waymo, there is no wheel for a passenger to reach.
One rider’s take on the difference
Recharge and Roam gave a passenger a ride in both a Waymo and a Tesla running FSD, then compared the two experiences on their channel on August 21, 2026.
That video shows one rider’s reaction on one day, in one set of traffic conditions — a useful real-world impression, not a substitute for the official difference in what each system is actually certified and designed to do, described above.
