Self-driving cars might actually live up to the hype, at least according to one prominent investor who thinks we're on the cusp of something big.

Ross Gerber, co-founder of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki, took to social media platform X on Tuesday to celebrate the progress being made in autonomous driving. His message was optimistic: the advancements from companies like Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) (GOOG) Waymo and Tesla Inc. (TSLA) could genuinely save lives. And not just a few lives here and there.

The Dawn of a Life-Saving Era

"We are at the beginning of the era," Gerber wrote, predicting that autonomous vehicles will start "saving a meaningful amount of lives" as the technology continues to mature. He wrapped up his post with two words that captured his enthusiasm: "Exciting times!"

It's worth noting that Gerber isn't just cheerleading from the sidelines. He's been watching the autonomous driving space closely, and he's got some specific opinions about who's winning the race.

Waymo Takes the Lead, Tesla Shows Promise With Caveats

In recent social media posts, Gerber has been particularly bullish on Waymo's progress. "Waymo is well ahead in the robotaxi business and getting further by the week," he said, praising the company's operations for scaling up "rapidly." When an investor like Gerber singles out one player as the clear leader, it's a pretty strong endorsement of their technological edge.

That doesn't mean he's written off Tesla, though. Gerber praised the electric vehicle maker's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology as a "big step up" from previous versions, acknowledging the improvements in recent updates. But he wasn't entirely effusive. The investor pointed out that Tesla's system is still wrestling with mapping issues, a problem he described as something that "needs to be addressed." Translation: impressive progress, but still some work to do before it's truly ready for prime time.

Tesla Eyes European Expansion

Speaking of Tesla's FSD ambitions, the company is making a strategic push into Europe. Through the end of December, Tesla is offering free Supervised FSD rides to customers across multiple European countries, including Germany, France and Italy. It's a classic try-before-you-buy strategy, giving European drivers a taste of the technology ahead of a planned broader rollout in the region next year.

The timing makes sense. Building consumer confidence and collecting real-world data in new markets before a full launch is smart business, especially for technology that still makes some people nervous.

Market Performance

As for Tesla's stock, shares slipped 0.21% to close at $429.24 during regular trading, then declined another 0.32% to $427.85 in after-hours trading, according to market data.