Elon Musk is being ordered to testify on statements regarding Autopilot
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A California judge has ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to testify under oath regarding statements he made about the safety and capabilities of the company's Autopilot features. This decision is part of a lawsuit filed by the family of Walter Huang, an Apple engineer who tragically died in a car crash in 2018. The family claims that Tesla's partially automated driving software failed, contributing to the accident. In contrast, Tesla argues that Huang was playing a video game on his phone and ignored crucial vehicle warnings before the crash.
Tesla argues Musk's statements are often "deepfakes"
Plaintiff attorneys are determined to question Musk about recorded statements that promote the Autopilot system's capabilities, with a particular focus on statements made in 2016. Tesla has opposed the request, stating that Musk cannot recall specific details about the statements in question and that he is often the target of "deepfake" videos, which may be used to attribute statements to him falsely.
However, recent statistics show that Teslas operating FSD or Autopilot are much safer than the average human driver.
Despite Tesla's objections, Judge Evette Pennypacker tentatively ordered a limited, three-hour deposition where Musk can be questioned about the authenticity of the recorded statements. The judge expressed her concerns about Tesla's arguments, calling them "deeply troubling." She noted that the company's position could allow famous individuals like Musk to avoid taking responsibility for their public statements.
Musk may also be questioned about a 2016 statement where he allegedly claimed that a Model S and Model X can drive autonomously with greater safety than a human driver. The plaintiffs further allege that Musk approved the details of a 2016 promotional video stating, "The car is driving itself." According to the plaintiffs, this video displayed features that did not exist at the time, which they claim were misleading to the public.
Lawsuit set for July 31, intensifying scrutiny over Autopilot
The lawsuit is set to go to trial on July 31, adding to the growing legal and regulatory scrutiny over Tesla's Autopilot system. A significant group of Tesla investors have raised concerns over such legalities in a recent letter to the board of directors,
The case draws significant attention as the public and regulators grapple with the implications and safety concerns surrounding partially automated driving software. This comes on the heels of a recent California state court jury verdict, which found that Tesla's Autopilot feature did not fail in a separate trial related to a crash involving the partially automated driving software.
As the legal landscape surrounding Tesla's Autopilot system continues to evolve, this case involving Musk's testimony could potentially have far-reaching consequences for the company and the future of autonomous vehicle technology. With 400 words, this expanded summary provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing legal situation involving Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the company's Autopilot feature.
Tesla China has outlined some features in Tesla’s latest update in the region, which is version 2024.26.9. In the list of features, Tesla mentions many of the features we’re already aware of, including Automatic Emergency Braking Improvements, YouTube Music and more, but they also reveal one additional feature that’s exclusive to China. The new feature allows the new blind spot indicator to light up if there’s something in the way when you’re opening your door. The blind spot indicator is exclusive to the new Model 3 and Cybertruck, which features little red LEDs in the front speaker grills next to the mirror.
Blind Spot Door Warnings
With update 2024.26.9, Tesla says that if any vehicle door handle button is pressed on vehicles with a Blind Spot Warning Light (currently just the 2024 Refreshed Model 3 Highland and the Cybertruck), the blind spot warning indicator in the vehicle’s front speakers will illuminate.
This object detection includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and “other objects”. We’re not quite sure what fits into the “other objects” category, but likely things that FSD picks up on normally – including traffic cones, bollards, and other large obstacles.
According to Tesla’s description, there appears to only be a visual warning for the driver and front passenger, with nothing displayed on screen or an audible tone. We’re sure Tesla will continue to expand and refine this feature like they’ve done with various features in the past, but for now, it's only available in China. Blind Spot Door Warnings need to be enabled under Controls > Safety before this feature will function.
We’d love to see Tesla use the ambient light strip in the vehicle to warn passengers and drivers when their door is obstructed – it would be a fantastic use of a luxury feature for utilitarian safety – rather than just the single red LED inside the door speaker. Additionally, an audio warning would be excellent for those who may not see the red dot.
Tesla appears to be making progress on FSD in China, with the latest update available in the region now displaying the FSD button in the vehicle. Tesla makes no note of the change in the release notes, nor does it appear to be available in any other regions that are expected to receive access to FSD in the future.
FSD in the UI
In the Autopilot options in China, users could previously select Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or Auto Steer (Beta), however, as of 2024.26.9, the Full Self Driving (Supervised) button is now visible – but greyed out. Tapping on the option doesn’t do anything just yet, but the addition of the button could be a hint that Tesla is planning to enable the feature soon.
Underneath the Autopilot selection, Tesla also has a phrase that says, “Full Self-Driving (Supervised) needs to use an updated version of navigation maps. Connect to Wi-Fi to download” (Thanks, Luis Zhu). It’s possible the option is greyed out because the software needs updated maps to work. There are no reports yet of what happens when the navigation map is downloaded.
We previously reported that FSD was on hold in China, even after Tesla received approval to start testing FSD in China. This flip-flopping is interesting but could be due to regulatory issues between China and Tesla regarding data collection and where the data is stored. Now that the button is in the UI – Tesla is clearly confident that it either has received approval or will in short order.
It certainly appears that Tesla is going to be opening up FSD in the region fairly soon. It’ll be interesting to see if Tesla uses the same Safety Score feature they used in the U.S. when choosing drivers to beta test the program.
Elon Musk previously mentioned that FSD (Supervised) would be rolling out to global markets, including Europe and China, as Tesla received approvals from governments in those nations.
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