Investor Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management thinks that self-driving cars would demonstrate the first real-world adoptions of physical AI.

‘Buckle Up,’ Says Gene Munster

Taking to the social media platform X on Sunday, the investor shared an article by the Wall Street Journal, which discussed the advent of self-driving cars. “Buckle up,” the investor said, adding that the “first wave of physical AI” adoption at scale would be autonomous vehicles.

To back up his prediction, the investor cited developments in self-driving technology made by Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo.

“Tesla's FSD is making major gains, and Waymo is going from 6 cities at the end of 2025 to likely 25 by the end of 2026,” Munster said in the post.

Tesla’s FSD Woes

Despite Munster’s bullish take on the automaker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, Tesla’s autonomous driving system has been hit with a major headwind as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced it was escalating its investigation into the technology.

This comes as Tesla was ramping up its Terafab AI chip project, which is a crucial element to Tesla’s self-driving efforts, as the AI5 chip has been touted as a chip that would “punch above its weight” and also potentially see applications in datacenters.

Waymo’s Mixed Bag

Meanwhile, Waymo has cemented itself as the current leader in the U.S. Robotaxi race, with the company eyeing expansions across multiple cities throughout the globe. The Robotaxi operator was also reportedly considering a deal with Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. (OTC:HYMLF), which would see the operator add over 50,000 Ioniq 5 EVs to the Waymo fleet.

In a bizarre phenomenon, though, drivers on the DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ:DASH) platform were reportedly being paid close to $24 to close doors on Waymo’s robotaxis, according to users on social media, after Waymo riders forgot to close doors following a Robotaxi ride.

The Robotaxi service has also been under scrutiny by NHTSA following an incident when a Waymo AV collided with a child in Sacramento near a school zone, with over 3,000 Waymo AVs potentially facing investigation.

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