Tesla Removes 'Autopilot' Name in New Software Update

Tesla is moving away from one of its most recognizable—and debated—brand names. With the release of software update 2026.2.9, the company has started renaming several core features of its driver-assistance suite.

According to the official release notes, the "Autopilot Naming Update" is primarily a text change. Tesla clarified that "This change only updates the name of certain features and text in your vehicle, and does not change the way your features behave". Specifically, the long-standing "Navigate on Autopilot" feature has been renamed to "Navigate on Autosteer," and the hardware formerly known as the "FSD Computer" is now officially called the "AI Computer".

The on-screen experience is also being refined with minor UI tweaks to reinforce a new "Self-Driving" identity for Autopilot. When a driver takes over manual control, the prompt now reads, "Self-Driving Disengaged. What Happened?" In addition, the vehicle settings menu previously labeled "Autopilot" has been renamed to "Self-Driving".

The new branding isn’t yet consistent throughout the interface. While much of the UI now uses the simplified "Self-Driving" label, the term "Full Self-Driving" still appears in the Speed Profile menu, and the "FSD (Supervised) Stats" section continues to use the older acronym. For the rebrand to be fully clear to owners, these changes will need to be applied across all sub-menus and status indicators.

A History of Regulatory Hot Water

This shift doesn’t come out of nowhere. Regulators have long argued that names like "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" could mislead consumers. The most recent pressure came from the California DMV, which accused Tesla of false advertising. To avoid a potential 60-day sales ban in its home state, the company removed Autopilot from new vehicle sales and shifted its marketing toward "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)".

Tesla is currently suing the California DMV to reverse that false advertising label, but the software changes indicate the company is taking a cautious approach for now. This issue isn’t limited to the U.S.; there was a similar legal battle in Germany back in 2023. Last month, the company also discontinued Autopilot for new orders in the U.S. and Canada, with new cars now shipping only with Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC).

Undocumented FSD Changes

Beyond the naming updates, there are a couple of changes for FSD users. Most notably, users currently on FSD v14 are now receiving the 2026.2 software branch for the first time.

It appears that FSD v14 is becoming the "standard" version of the software that everyone receives when they subscribe to the service. This helps unify the fleet, keeping more drivers on the same version of the neural network as Tesla works toward a version of the software that won’t require driver supervision. The branding shift also follows the retirement of the iconic Autopilot symbol from the UI last fall.

The Path to Autonomy

Although the "Autopilot" name is being phased out, Tesla’s goal of an unsupervised system remains. By renaming the hardware to the "AI Computer," the company is emphasizing that the vehicle is essentially a robot on wheels powered by artificial intelligence, rather than a simple set of programmed rules.

As Tesla pivots toward a future centered on AI and robotics, these "semantic" updates are likely just the start of a broader image rebrand.