(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk said he’d use a potential role in the US government to push for a more streamlined regulatory approach to approving fully autonomous vehicles for use nationwide.
Speaking on Tesla Inc.’s third-quarter earnings call, Musk called for national rules to allow self-driving cars on US roads without traditional driver controls. Current US policy poses several hurdles for vehicles designed without traditional foot pedals or steering wheels, including the Cybercab concept Musk revealed earlier this month.
“If there is a Department of Government Efficiency I will try to make that happen,” Musk said.
While Musk didn’t mention Donald Trump by name, leading a “Department of Government Efficiency” is a hypothetical role that the Republican presidential candidate began floating for the Tesla CEO. Musk has directed more than $75 million to his campaign.
Trump has said he would ask Musk to join his administration should he win a second term. The idea would be for Musk to head an effort to cut government waste at the would-be Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE for short, a reference to a cryptocurrency Musk has embraced.
On Wednesday, Musk said Tesla aimed to get regulatory approvals to operate a ridehailing service for self-driving Teslas in Texas and California next year. He said he’d be “shocked” if the company failed to do so, but lamented the complicated framework in California to get the needed permits.
Shares of leading US ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. fell after Musk stated those plans.
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