Huge News for Tesla Investors: 1 Billion Reasons to Keep an Eye on the Stock

One of the most volatile stocks is Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), a company that's a pioneer in electric vehicles (EVs) and a pillar in the sustainable energy movement.

While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite inch closer to record levels, Tesla can't seem to find its mojo. Shares have plummeted 30% so far this year, and the company's prospects look cloudy.

Per usual, Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, gave investors some reason to cheer by distracting them with an update on the company's autonomous driving progress.

A few days ago, Musk took to X -- the social media platform formerly known as Twitter -- to post that Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) technology has collected over 1 billion miles of driver data. Let's break down why this is important and what it could mean for the future of the company.

Enter the Dojo Tesla vehicles are equipped with cameras and sensors that are constantly collecting various data. This includes maps of neighborhoods and cities, driving conditions in different areas, and more.

In turn, this data is directly fed back to a supercomputer called Dojo, the neural network that processes all of this driver data and helps refine the company's self-driving software.

Tesla is not the only company pursuing autonomous driving. General Motors and Alphabet have made significant investments in the technology. While the latter's Waymo subsidiary has made some notable progress in self-driving capabilities, General Motors has faced a number of setbacks as of late.

Tesla is considered by many on Wall Street to be in the lead with autonomous driving. The company has more data than its competitors, and as such, it's been able to make big changes to FSD over the years.

But even so, the idea of self-driving cars really does seem like science fiction. While the prospects are intriguing, is autonomous driving a reality?