Musk Mocks Waymo Pet Collisions as Tesla Robotaxi Competes
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What happened
On Saturday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a livestreamed interview at a Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley event that Waymo robotaxis are "pet destroyers" that "run over a lot of pets," and claimed Tesla Robotaxi has solved detection of hard-to-see animals such as gray kittens on gray pavement at night in low visibility. In October 2025, a Waymo vehicle in San Francisco struck and killed KitKat, a cat at a corner store; Waymo said the cat darted underneath as the vehicle pulled away after picking up passengers, expressed sympathy, and said it would donate to a local animal-rights group. NHTSA data for July 2025 through July 2026 showed Waymo reported at least nine animal crashes, six described as involving domestic animals, while Tesla reported one animal collision involving a supervised robotaxi and operated a smaller fleet concentrated mainly in Austin. Musk said Tesla would test and then deploy a related update but gave no date or detection-performance data. NHTSA cautions that differences in reporting and vehicle operations limit direct comparisons between companies.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 2 articles
2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 2
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Elon Musk, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Waymo
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 1 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: NHTSA data
- Credits another outlet 0 of 2
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 2
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 12, 23:13 UTC by Business Insider, naming its source. First document in the first report, from Business Insider (NHTSA data).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage presents Waymo's and Tesla's animal-crash reports as a score readers can compare, while right-leaning coverage includes the federal warning that those reports are not comparable. Business Insider cites NHTSA filings in which Waymo reported animal crashes and Tesla reported a supervised incident, with a note that Tesla ran a smaller fleet concentrated in Austin. Fox Business carries the same counts and adds that NHTSA cautions that differences in reporting and vehicle operations limit direct comparisons between companies.
Left-leaning coverage says the bodega cat was "run over" by a Waymo tire. Right-leaning coverage uses Waymo's account that the cat "darted underneath" the vehicle as it pulled away. The episode is vivid, but it does not by itself establish a safety-rule breach.
How many animal collisions does each company record per mile driven?
Bottom line
Musk's pet-crash jab is scored with NHTSA tallies in both writeups, but only Fox Business notes the agency's warning that those tallies are not comparable.
The receipts — 4 facts one side's coverage lacks
- NHTSA cautions that differences in reporting and vehicle operations limit direct comparisons between companies
- Waymo said it would make a donation to a local animal rights organization in KitKat's honor
- Video obtained by The New York Times showed KitKat was run over by Waymo's rear right tire
- A Waymo spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment
The Left View
Business Insider framed Musk's comments as a "dig" at a robotaxi rival and treated Waymo's animal-collision history, including the KitKat case, as the relevant backdrop. It used the NHTSA animal-crash counts to underscore that record, noted Tesla's single reported incident was supervised and came from a smaller Austin-centered fleet, said Waymo did not respond to a request for comment, and flagged that Musk gave no deployment date for Tesla's update.
The Right View
Fox Business cast the remarks as a safety clash between robotaxi rivals, pairing Musk's insult with his assertion that Tesla had "actually did solve" hard-to-see nighttime pet detection—while noting the absence of a rollout date or supporting data. It gave Waymo's account of the KitKat incident and the company's sympathy and donation pledge, emphasized that both companies reported animal collisions, and cited NHTSA's caution against direct comparisons.
Our Take (balanced)
Business Insider's strongest argument is that public crash filings and a high-profile pet death give Musk's attack a factual hook, while Tesla's claimed solution remains undated and unquantified. Fox Business's strongest argument is that Tesla's smaller, largely supervised fleet and NHTSA's own warning against comparing the two companies mean raw crash counts cannot establish that Waymo uniquely destroys pets or that Tesla has fixed the problem. The central unresolved tension is whether Waymo's higher reported animal-crash numbers reflect a real detection gap Tesla has closed, or incomparable operations that neither side has produced matching evidence to resolve.
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