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Elon Musk Under SEC Probe Over Tesla Self-Driving Claims

Elon Musk allegedly supervised a misleading promotional video in 2016 that claimed a Tesla was “driving itself” despite the car not truly having those capabilities.

The SEC is investigating Elon Musk’s role in promoting Tesla’s self-driving abilities. The investigation comes after allegations that Musk supervised a misleading promotional video in 2016 which falsely claimed “the car is driving itself” with no disclaimer that the Tesla was actually coded to take that route, and unable to drive autonomously. Musk had emailed staffers prior to the video’s launch promising to tell “the world that this is what the car *will* be able to do... not that it can do this upon receipt,” which he never did. It’s not yet clear exactly which comments led to the SEC probe, but a source told Bloomberg the investigation is part of an ongoing probe into the company’s statements about its autopilot driving system. Tesla is currently in the throes of a trial over a driver fatality blamed on the car’s autopilot, while facing two active investigations from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into whether the autopilot function is insufficient.