Tesla is offering a one-month trial of its $12,000 Full Self-Driving Beta software to all U.S. customers with compatible hardware, while also mandating demos for prospective buyers. This move comes as the company faces a civil lawsuit over a 2018 crash involving Autopilot. The new "V12" version of the software, running on neural networks, has received praise but also criticism. Expanding access to the software could provide more training data but also raises concerns about misuse and safety.
Tesla is recalling over 2 million vehicles in the largest recall of its driver-assistance software, Autopilot, due to insufficient controls to prevent misuse. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) determined that Tesla's method of ensuring driver attention while the system is engaged is inadequate, posing an increased risk of crashes. The recall affects all Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot on U.S. roads. Tesla will send a software update to fix the issues. NHTSA has been investigating the software for over two years, examining crashes involving Teslas in Autopilot. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized NHTSA and its terminology. The investigation will remain open to evaluate the effectiveness of the remedies deployed by Tesla.
Tesla has won a lawsuit against its driver-assistance software as a California jury ruled that the autopilot feature was not responsible for a fatal crash in 2019. The lawsuit claimed that Tesla's software caused the vehicle to veer off the road and crash into a tree, resulting in the death of the driver and injuries to two passengers. However, the jury found that the crash was due to "classic human error" and not a manufacturing defect. Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems continue to face legal challenges, with concerns raised about the misleading nature of their names and the need for human monitoring.
