Podcast Summary:

Alright folks, here’s a weird one—people just can’t stop testing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) by putting up fake cartoon-style walls. This all started when YouTuber Mark Rober, famous for his glitter bomb revenge on package thieves, decided to see if a Tesla could detect a wall painted like an endless road. Spoiler alert: It didn’t. Now, another YouTube creator, Kyle Paul, has stepped in to run a similar test—but with two Teslas, including the futuristic Cybertruck. The results? The Model Y, running FSD version 12.5.4.2, still failed the test and had to be stopped manually. But—good news for Tesla fans—the Cybertruck, running the latest FSD 13.2.8, actually recognized the wall and slowed to a stop. Is Tesla improving? Or is this just hit-or-miss technology? Either way, watching people build ACME-style illusions for science is kind of amazing.

Key Points:

• YouTuber Mark Rober initially tested Tesla’s FSD by painting a fake road on a wall—Tesla didn’t stop and went straight through it.
• Kyle Paul followed up with a similar test using a Tesla Model Y and a Cybertruck.
• The Model Y (FSD version 12.5.4.2) failed the test, requiring a manual stop.
• The Cybertruck (FSD version 13.2.8) successfully detected the wall and came to a full stop.
• The test highlights ongoing concerns about Tesla’s reliance on cameras for autonomous driving.
• As The Verge notes, “you can watch both videos for yourself, whether it’s to check the science or just to take note of how many people have the means to build real-world Looney Tunes ACME walls.”

So where does this leave us? Maybe Tesla's FSD is improving, but if you’re relying on it to avoid cartoonish illusions, you might want to keep your hands on the wheel.
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