Tesla released FSD V12.5.4.1 with software update 2024.32.10, just a day after launching FSD V12.5.5 in update 2024.32.20. This is good for several reasons, but they’ve also included improvements for Actually Smart Summon, which Tesla mentions in the release notes.
This build was released to early access testers last night and will likely roll out wider within the week.
Update 2024.32
First, non-FSD builds have been on 2024.32 for quite a while now, and it looks like this will be the big branch merge to bring FSD V12.5.4 (and V12.5.5) to the latest feature branch. Once 2024.32.10 begins to roll out en masse, owners in North America will soon be able to subscribe to FSD and get the latest FSD version.
Update: This is now rolling out this update to users who have bought Enhanced Autopilot as well, and not just vehicles with FSD. This is the first step to expanding Actually Smart Summon globally. Summon capabilities are included for vehicles with Enhanced Autopilot or higher. Enhanced Autopilot is still available for purchase in some regions, but hasn’t been available in North America since Tesla lowered the price of FSD.
Actually Smart Summon Changes
The changelog for Actually Smart Summon for this build is short but adds a few items that users had already identified as needing some work. Tesla is pushing these updates out all in short order – all ahead of the upcoming Robotaxi event.
Improved Public/High-Speed Road Aborts: This one is fairly valuable, as Actually Smart Summon does not function on public roads or anything that has a higher speed. On the current build of A.S.S., it will just stop the vehicle before turning onto a public road. We’re hoping to see the vehicle either properly pull over, or turn around as required and continue back into the parking lot.
Improved Blocked Camera Aborts: The next update is improved block camera aborts, which should be similar, except instead of stopping for public roads or high-speed roads, A.S.S. stops when the cameras are covered up. This improvement should reduce false-stops and increase confidence.
Reduced False Positive Collision Mitigation Aborts: Third we’ve got reduced false positive collision mitigation aborts – again – A.S.S. stops if it believes there will be a collision. It has been fairly cautious in the current build, leaving a wide berth between it and any obstacles. Now that Tesla has gotten training data from the many drivers who have been using it since it was released, there will be fewer false positives going forward.
Refined Dumb Summon: We’re not sure what improvements are here, but it looks like there are general improvements to the previous forward/backward Summon version.
Update: We initially uncovered new summon options in FSD 12.5.4, where you could now have the vehicle play a sound when Summon completes or is aborted. We covered the new options as an undocumented change in our release notes, but Tesla has now expanded its functionality.
With update 2024.32.10, Tesla now lets you pick from a custom sound from your USB drive to play when Actually Smart Summon completes. This is in addition to the previous sound clip choices of Applause, Ta Da, Ba-dum Tiss and a random sound. Tesla also added “fart” as one of the sound choices, which was previously only played when Actually Smart Summon was aborted.
For now, FSD users can look forward to getting improvements to Actually Smart Summon and the features in update 2024.32 and non-FSD users can look forward to subscribing to FSD and receiving the latest FSD build in the near future.
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With Tesla’s first major expansion of the Robotaxi Geofence now complete and operational, they’ve been hard at work with validation in new locations - and some are quite the drive from the current Austin Geofence.
Validation fleet vehicles have been spotted operating in a wider perimeter around the city, from rural roads in the west end to the more complex area closer to the airport. Tesla mentioned during their earnings call that the Robotaxi has already completed 7,000 miles in Austin, and it will expand its area of operation to roughly 10 times what it is now. This lines up with the validation vehicles we’ve been tracking around Austin.
Based on the spread of the new sightings, the potential next geofence could cover a staggering 450 square miles - a tenfold increase from the current service area of roughly 42 square miles. You can check this out in our map below with the sightings we’re tracking.
If Tesla decides to expand into these new areas, it would represent a tenfold increase over their current geofence, matching Tesla’s statement. The new area would cover approximately 10% of the 4,500-square-mile Austin metropolitan area. If Tesla can offer Robotaxi services in that entire area, it would prove they can tackle just about any city in the United States.
From Urban Core to Rural Roads
The locations of the validation vehicles show a clear intent to move beyond the initial urban and suburban core and prepare the Robotaxi service for a much wider range of uses.
In the west, validation fleet vehicles have been spotted as far as Marble Falls - a much more rural environment that features different road types, higher speed limits, and potentially different challenges.
In the south, Tesla has been expanding towards Kyle, which is part of the growing Austin-San Antonio suburban corridor spanning Highway 35. San Antonio is only 80 miles (roughly a 90-minute drive) away, and could easily become part of the existing Robotaxi area if Tesla obtains regulatory approval there.
In the East, we haven’t spotted any new validation vehicles. This is likely because Tesla’s validation vehicles originate from Giga Texas, which is located East of Austin. We won’t really know if Tesla is expanding in this direction until they start pushing past Giga Texas and toward Houston.
Finally, there have been some validation vehicles spotted just North of the new expanded boundaries, meaning that Tesla isn’t done in that direction either. This direction consists of the largest suburban areas of Austin, which have so far not been serviced by any form of autonomous vehicle.
Rapid Scaling
This new, widespread validation effort confirms what we already know. Tesla is pushing for an intensive period of public data gathering and system testing in a new area, right before conducting geofence expansions. The sheer scale of this new validation zone tells us that Tesla isn’t taking this slowly - the next step is going to be a great leap instead, and they essentially confirmed this during this Q&A session on the recent call. The goal is clearly to bring the entire Austin Metropolitan area into the Robotaxi Network.
While the previous expansion showed off just how Tesla can scale the network, this new phase of validation testing is a demonstration of just how fast they can validate and expand their network. The move to validate across rural, suburban, and urban areas simultaneously shows their confidence in these new Robotaxi FSD builds.
Eventually, all these improvements from Robotaxi will make their way to customer FSD builds sometime in Q3 2025, so there is a lot to look forward to.
For years, the progress of Tesla’s FSD has been measured by smoother turns, better lane centering, and more confident unprotected left turns. But as the system matures, a new, more subtle form of intelligence is emerging - one that shifts its attention to the human nuances of navigating roads. A new video posted to X shows the most recent FSD build, V13.2.9, demonstrating this in a remarkable real-world scenario.
Toll Booth Magic
In the video, a Model Y running FSD pulls up to a toll booth and smoothly comes to a stop, allowing the driver to handle payment. The car waits patiently as the driver interacts with the attendant. Then, at the precise moment the toll booth operator finishes the transaction and says “Have a great day”, the vehicle starts moving, proceeding through the booth - all without any input from the driver.
If you notice, there’s no gate here at this toll booth. This interaction all happened naturally with FSD.
While the timing was perfect, the FSD wasn’t listening to the conversation for clues (maybe one day, with Grok?) The reality, as explained by Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI, is even more impressive.
It can see the transaction happening using the repeater & pillar cameras. Hence FSD proceeds on its own when the transaction is complete 😎
FSD is simply using the cameras on the side of the vehicle to watch the exchange between the driver and attendant. The neural network has been trained on enough data that it can visually recognize the conclusion of a transaction - the exchange of money or a card and the hands pulling away - and understands that this is the trigger to proceed.
The Bigger Picture
This capability is far more significant than just a simple party trick. FSD is gaining the ability to perceive and navigate a world built for humans in the most human-like fashion possible.
If FSD can learn what a completed toll transaction looks like, it’s an example of the countless other complex scenarios it’ll be able to handle in the future. This same visual understanding could be applied to navigating a fast-food drive-thru, interacting with a parking garage attendant, passing through a security checkpoint, or boarding a ferry or vehicle train — all things we thought that would come much later.
These human-focused interactions will eventually become even more useful, as FSD becomes ever more confident in responding to humans on the road, like when a police officer tells a vehicle to go a certain direction, or a construction worker flags you through a site. These are real-world events that happen every day, and it isn’t surprising to see FSD picking up on the subtleties and nuances of human interaction.
This isn’t a pre-programmed feature for a specific toll booth. It is an emergent capability of the end-to-end AI neural nets. By learning from millions of videos across billions of miles, FSD is beginning to build a true contextual understanding of the world. The best part - with a 10x context increase on its way, this understanding will grow rapidly and become far more powerful.
These small, subtle moments of intelligence are the necessary steps to a truly robust autonomous system that can handle the messy, unpredictable nature of human society.
