According to a report by the Reuters news agency, US prosecutors are looking into false statements about Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving System (FSD) characteristics. They suspect Tesla of investor fraud and defrauding the public through telecommunications means (known as wire fraud).
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
In particular, they will examine statements from Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk that suggested the cars can drive themselves, despite the company also stating that the systems aren’t fully autonomous and drivers must be ready to take control at any time. This action comes after an investigation into the recall of older Autopilot and FSD versions in December 2023. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also investigating Tesla’s statements about its driving assistance system to its investors.
This investigation doesn’t mean Tesla is being charged, but it could lead to charges.
Optimism or Fraud?
According to Reuters, the main job of the public prosecutor’s office before a possible charge is to prove that the statements about Autopilot and FSD went from hopeful business projections to knowingly false claims. In 2008, a US court said that overly hopeful business statements alone weren’t fraud.
The NHTSA found that Tesla’s statements about Autopilot and FSD made a ” gap between drivers’ expectations and the system’s actual capabilities,” which could lead to “foreseeable misuse and preventable accidents.”
The investigation into investor fraud is happening because, unlike when Autopilot and FSD were first introduced, Tesla now doesn’t just call itself a car company, but also a robotics and AI company. The system isn’t just a small part of the main business anymore, but it’s now a big part of Tesla’s main business. Recently, the group saw a big drop in car sales, but the stock price went up because of rumors about FSD being introduced in China.
Read Also:
