Tesla's Future May Include Launching Uber-Like Service, Market Guru Says

— -- One of the cooler scenes from the 2004 movie "I, Robot" is when Will Smith’s character is barreling down the highway alone in a self-driving car. In the driver’s seat -- if it can be called that -- he is reviewing documents, paying little attention to what is going on around him.

It’s a vision of automated transportation that seemed far-fetched in 2004, when the film was released. But, in the 12 years since then, we’ve seen major advancements towards self-driving cars, and the film reportedly served as inspiration for Elon Musk -- whose electric car company Tesla is among several companies developing self-driving technology.

During an event last autumn announcing self-driving features, Musk pointed to the sci-fi film, saying that he believed Tesla was about three years away from cars that are fully autonomous, according to the Verge.

And he appears to be serious about it. Even as his company takes a beating in the press for accidents -- one of them deadly -- involving his rudimentary version of driving automation, the CEO is not backing down, and by all accounts seems prepared to defend the technology.

The seemingly off-the-cuff remarks about the film are taking on new significance this week, as people speculate about a tweet the executive sent over the weekend.

Promising a “Top Secret Tesla Masterplan,” Musk’s tweet harkened back to a 2006 blog post titled “The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me)” that revealed two of the company’s Model S and Model 3.

But as the rumor mill spins into overdrive, one prediction is gaining traction online.

In a research note for Morgan Stanley, Tesla guru Adam Jonas and his colleagues lay out a compelling vision for the company that has already revolutionized the electric car market.

“We believe the missing piece could be an on-demand mobility service that complements Tesla’s skills in electric and autonomous vehicles,” the group writes.

In other words: Jonas and his colleagues think Tesla may be laying out plans to be less like Chevrolet and more like Uber -- or at least a combination of the two.

“The auto industry is in the early metamorphosis from privately-owned model to a public transport utility,” the group writes. “We believe that Tesla’s unique advantages in machine learning and lack of exposure to legacy systems (internal combustion tech, unconnected cars) provide it with an opportunity to tap into larger and faster growing markets ahead of its competitors.”

If Jonas’ predictions turn true, it will likely take time for the public to trust automated driving.

Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment on the research note.

In recent weeks, Tesla has gotten some unwanted attention for a series of crashes in which the company’s AutoPilot feature -- a simple version of semi-driverless operating -- was activated.

The revelations have prompted investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the safety of AutoPilot.

Regardless, fans of sci-fi can start getting excited about the possibility of a self-driving car service well before 2035, the year Will Smith’s movie was set.