Elon Musk has attacked rival Waymo, labeling its autonomous vehicles “pet destroyers” while highlighting Tesla’s efforts to develop robotaxis capable of avoiding animals on the road.
The Tesla chief made the remarks during a livestreamed interview with Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, where he alleged that Waymo vehicles had struck numerous animals.
“Maybe what a lot of people don’t know is that Waymos are like pet destroyers,” Musk said. “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.”
His comments come as Tesla and Waymo compete to expand autonomous taxi operations, with concerns over the safety of driverless technology continuing to shadow the industry.
Musk said Tesla was working to make sure its robotaxis could identify animals in challenging conditions, especially at night when small pets may blend into dark roads.
“We have these challenges of literally like: gray kittens on a gray tarmac with tar seams at night in low visibility,” he said. “And it’s like, ‘Can we not run over the kittens,’ type of thing.”
Musk claimed Tesla had addressed the issue and said the company would release an update. He did not give a timetable or provide data demonstrating how reliably the system can detect animals and prevent collisions.
Waymo has previously faced criticism over collisions involving animals, most notably after the death of KitKat, a much-loved cat that had become a familiar presence at Randa’s Market in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Elon Musk has called rival Waymo’s driverless vehicles “pet destroyers” as he promotes Tesla’s Cybercabs and criticizes the company’s record of animal collisions.
Waymo and Tesla’s Cybercabs are seeking to expand their robotaxi services beyond their main hub in San Francisco.
Musk said Tesla was working to help its robotaxis detect animals in difficult conditions, particularly at night when small pets can be hard to see against dark roads.
A Waymo robotaxi struck KitKat on October 27, 2025. The cat died later that night, prompting an outpouring of grief from residents who knew him as the “mayor of 16th Street.”
Waymo initially said KitKat had darted beneath the vehicle as it pulled away after stopping to collect passengers.
However, surveillance footage published by The New York Times in December showed the moments leading up to the collision and prompted new questions about the vehicle’s ability to detect the cat.
The footage showed a bystander crouching near the front of the robotaxi and trying to coax KitKat away from its tire. The cat moved farther beneath the vehicle before the Waymo pulled away and ran him over.
FIND OUT MORE: The Psychology Behind the ‘Anti-Mar-a-Lago’ Face Trend and What It Signals
Just weeks later, another Waymo vehicle struck a small dog that was loose in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood.
The collision occurred at about 8pm on November 30, 2025, near the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets.
Waymo confirmed that its vehicle had made contact with the dog while the animal was in the roadway.
The dog suffered severe pelvic trauma and was later put down by its family, according to KRON4.
A Waymo robotaxi ran over KitKat on October 27, 2025, after a bystander tried to coax the cat away from the vehicle’s tires.
The beloved cat had become a fixture at Randa’s Market in San Francisco’s Mission District
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Waymo reported at least nine crashes involving animals between July 2025 and July 2026, six of which the company described as involving domestic animals.
Tesla also reported an animal collision during the same period, although it involved a supervised robotaxi.
The comparison comes with caveats. Tesla operated a smaller fleet, with most of its unsupervised robotaxi operations concentrated in Austin, while differences in fleet size and operating conditions make direct comparisons difficult.
During the livestream, Musk also discussed Tesla’s plans to expand into additional cities, saying the company was checking for potentially dangerous or confusing intersections before launching services.
He said particular attention would be paid to railroad crossings.
‘Before we go to a new city, we want to make sure that there’s not some intersection that’s problematic or risky,’ Musk said.
‘We want to be particularly careful with railroad crossings.’
Musk added that unfamiliar or confusing intersections could lead to mistakes by human drivers as well, and said Tesla wanted its robotaxis to navigate such locations safely or avoid them when first entering a new market.
