Tesla is reportedly under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice in the United States over self-driving claims.<\/p>\n
Over the last few months, there has been mounting pressure from regulators, politicians, and the media regarding Tesla\u2019s self-driving effort.<\/p>\n
Tesla Autopilot has been under NHTSA investigation for a year<\/a> now, and Tesla\u2019s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta has been under attack by a well-financed smear campaign<\/a> that has reached politicians.<\/p>\n These are both challenges that Tesla has faced successfully in the past.<\/p>\n But now the automaker is reportedly facing something new for the company: a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice into its self-driving claims.<\/p>\n Reuters<\/a> reported today that several sources have confirmed the probe:<\/p>\n Tesla Inc is under criminal investigation in the United States over claims that the company\u2019s electric vehicles can drive themselves, three people familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n According to the report, the Justice Department is looking into \u201cwhether Tesla misled consumers, investors and regulators by making unsupported claims about its driver assistance technology\u2019s capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Tesla always said that its current driver assist features under its Autopilot or Full Self-Driving Beta packages require constant monitoring and drivers need to be ready to take control at all time.<\/p>\n However, the company and CEO Elon Musk specifically have been criticized for marketing the features in a way that can be confusing to the public.<\/p>\n Reuters writes in the report:<\/p>\n The Justice Department investigation potentially represents a more serious level of scrutiny because of the possibility of criminal charges against the company or individual executives, the people familiar with the inquiry said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The report also notes that there are competing investigations involving Tesla and Musk.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s preface this by adding the classic disclaimer that I\u2019m not a lawyer, but this sounds serious.<\/p>\n In terms of liability regarding accidents, Tesla has always been fairly careful in adding a lot of warnings through the activation of any driver-assist features.<\/p>\n I do think that buyers have a case against Tesla over the company not delivering on the promises of Full Self-Driving. But that\u2019s going to be settled through civil litigation. There is already a class action lawsuit filed last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how criminal charges could apply, but again, I\u2019m not a lawyer.<\/p>\n\n
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Electrek\u2019s Take<\/h2>\n