Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk made headlines recently by saying that his electric vehicle company is "very close" to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology. "I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year," Musk said in a video message, as reported by Reuters. But many industry insiders and self-driving engineers are dubious of Musk's claims. After all, level 5 autonomy means a truly self-driving car, that can drive anywhere, at any time, under any condition, without ever needing any human assistance. Gill Pratt, the CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, said "none of us in the automobile or IT industries are close to achieving true level 5 autonomy."

Russian search giant Yandex has unveiled plans to build a self-driving shuttle bus, in cooperation with Daimler, Russian truck manufacturer Kamaz, and government-backed research firm NAMI. It is Yandex's first foray into the world of self-driving, following search rivals Google and…