Elon Musk announced early Wednesday that Tesla will eliminate the one-time purchase option for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software beginning in mid-February, transitioning the product to an exclusive monthly subscription.
“Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14. FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter,” Musk wrote on X.
Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14.
FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 14, 2026
The move comes as vehicle sales slow and appears to signal a strategic shift toward recurring revenue, while also aligning with Musk’s new incentive compensation structure, which is tied to scaling FSD subscriptions and hitting key performance milestones.
For Musk to unlock the full value of his massive Tesla compensation plan (valued at $1 trillion), a key milestone is reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions over a sustained period. That target sits alongside other ambitious goals, including delivering 20 million vehicles, deploying 1 million robotaxis, delivering 1 million humanoid robots, and achieving certain profitability and market-cap thresholds.
X users were divided on FSD’s transition to an entirely subscription-based model, similar to that of Chinese automaker BYD Motors.
“The year is 2050. I pay the monthly subscription for my HBAAS (Heartbeat as a service).”
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) January 14, 2026
What about transferring to a different car
— Robin (@xdNiBoR) January 14, 2026
“You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy”
— Ethan (@0xEthan) January 14, 2026
Brilliant decision, this will increase FSD usage. Overall (my 2 cents), I think all Teslas should have FSD enabled for every new owner. No one will choose not to experience it.
— Gail Alfar (@gailalfaratx) January 14, 2026
Everything is a subscription
And then next is going to be the expiring universal income
— Shaman Ste (@shamanste8) January 14, 2026
Add FSD to the mountain of subscriptions, whether that’s TV, social media, music, food, dating, fitness, transportation, and the list goes on and on.
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