Image: Tesla
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14 is getting some rare and notable praise from outside the company, with Nvidia’s Director of AI and Distinguished Research Scientist, Jim Fan, calling it the first AI system to pass what he describes as the “physical Turing test.”
Fan, who leads embodied AI research at Nvidia and plays a key role in the company’s Project GR00T humanoid robotics initiative, shared his impressions on X after spending time with Tesla’s latest FSD build. He said he was late to owning a Tesla, but among the first to try FSD 14 — and the experience left a lasting impression. “It’s perhaps the first time I experience an AI that passes the Physical Turing Test: after a long day at work, you press a button, lay back, and couldn’t tell if a neural net or a human drove you home,” he noted.
Despite fully understanding how robot learning works, Fan said watching the steering wheel turn on its own still felt magical. He went on to call FSD a “god-like technology,” predicting that it will eventually become as routine to humanity as smartphones.
Fan’s comments were sparked by recent footage shared by Tesla engineer Phil Duan, showing a completely unmanned Robotaxi — no driver, and not even a safety monitor — testing “unsupervised” Full Self-Driving in Austin, Texas. Tesla has already begun testing unsupervised Robotaxi rides in the city, a major milestone as the company pushes toward autonomy at scale.
The physical Turing test, as described by Fan, goes beyond text or conversation. Instead, it measures whether an AI can perform real-world physical tasks so naturally that its actions are indistinguishable from a human’s. In Tesla’s case, that means navigating complex urban environments, responding to unpredictable conditions, and driving in a way that simply feels human.
This praise comes as Tesla owners continue reporting impressive real-world results, including Model 3s driving up to 5,000 miles on FSD without a single intervention. Tesla has also expanded FSD into seven countries, while rapidly iterating on the software. The latest versions even allow texting behind the wheel when conditions permit, signaling Tesla’s growing confidence in the system.
Nvidia’s role in the broader AI boom adds weight to Fan’s comments. As the company powering much of the world’s AI infrastructure — from data centers to robotics platforms — Nvidia has become a bellwether for where AI is headed. Fan’s endorsement suggests Tesla’s real-world AI approach is resonating even with leaders building the tools behind today’s AI explosion.
Elon Musk echoed Fan’s sentiment, saying you can “sense the sentience maturing” with FSD 14. He added that Tesla’s system is the best real-world AI available today.
Whether or not Tesla has truly crossed that line, the conversation has clearly shifted. The question is no longer if autonomous driving feels human-like — but how soon it becomes the norm.
