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Elon Musk Pushed Autopilot Over Tesla Engineers’ Objections, Report Says

A self-driving Tesla car hit a barrier during filming for a promotional video, says The New York Times.

Elon Musk “pushed” Tesla’s self-driving technology and “repeatedly misled buyers about the services’ abilities,” an investigation in The New York Times alleges. The article says that Musk brushed aside concerns from Tesla engineers about only using cameras instead of combining cameras, radar, and the radar-like technology lidar, and that Musk “repeatedly told members of the Autopilot team that humans could drive with only two eyes and that this meant cars should be able to drive with cameras alone.” The article also says that during filming of a promotional video for Autopilot 2.0, “the car hit a roadside barrier on Tesla property while using Autopilot and had to be repaired.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating Tesla “after at least 12 accidents in which Teslas using Autopilot drove into parked fire trucks, police cars and other emergency vehicles, killing one person and injuring 17 others,” The New York Times says.