Musk says Tesla close to reaching vehicle autonomy

Elon Musk said Friday that Tesla is close to achieving fully autonomous vehicles. 

Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris, the billionaire said that autonomy was the "main driver" of its market value.

"Although I've said this before, I think we will solve autonomy soon," Musk told attendees. 

"The value of the company is primarily on the basis of autonomy," the chief executive said. "That's really, I think, the main driver of our value."

Tesla has what the automaker calls "Full Self-Driving" capability – the software does not make the vehicles autonomous, according to its website. 

"These features are designed to become more capable over time; however the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous. The currently enabled features require a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment," Tesla says. 

The autopilot assists the car with steering, accelerating and braking for other vehicles and pedestrians within its lane. It assists with "the most burdensome parts of driving."

"With Full Self-Driving capability, you will get access to a suite of more advanced driver assistance features, designed to provide more active guidance and assisted driving under your active supervision," Tesla says. 

The company's shares rose by as much as 3% to their highest level in over eight months.

Musk also called Friday, once again, for artificial intelligence regulation.

 "There is a real danger for digital superintelligence having negative consequences," the SpaceX founder cautioned. Musk has reportedly set up his own AI company called X.AI, according to a filing in Nevada.