This and that. FUD this FUD that. Tesla have communicated clearly why "adding" LiDAR isn't an improvement for a system with goals as high as their are. Remember, no vision system yet is as good as humans are with vision, so obviously there's a lot to do with vision still.

Check this for a reference of how well Tesla's vision-only fares against the competition, where many have LiDAR. Keep it simple wins the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xumyEf-WRI

Is this like the same BS as Elon on an investor call recently?

One analyst asked about the reliability of Tesla’s cameras when confronting sun glare, fog, or dust. Musk claimed that the company’s vision system bypasses image processing and instead uses direct photon counting to account for “noise” like glare or dust.

This... is horseshit. Photon counting is not something you can do with a regular camera or any camera installed on a Tesla. A photon counting camera doesn't produce imagery that is useful for vision. Even beyond that, it requires a closed environment so that you can you know, count them in a controlled manner, not an open outside atmosphere.

It's bullshit. And Elon knows it. He just thinks that you are too stupid to know it and instead think "Oh, yeah, that makes sense, what an awesome idea, why is only Tesla doing this?" and are wowed by Elon's brilliance.