Tesla robotaxis draw concerns from U.S. regulators
Tesla has been approached by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after footage shared on social media appeared to show its newly-launched driverless cars breaking traffic laws. The firm's long-awaited robotaxis were tried out on public roads for the first time in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.
Videos posted online seem to show instances where the vehicles, which had a safety driver in the passenger seat, drive erratically.
In a statement, the NHTSA said it was 'aware of the referenced incidents and is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information'.
Social media footage seems to show the vehicles struggled with real world driving scenarios. One video seems to show a robotaxi stopping abruptly as it passes a parked police car. Tech news outlet TechCrunch said cars were also seen speeding and swerving into the wrong lane.
The rollout is limited to 12 taxis and Tesla says they won't operate in bad weather, attempt difficult intersections or carry customers below the age of 18. Analysts had already said the small-scale launch showed how far Tesla has to go to catch up with rivals.
Tesla is using a different technology to its rivals, relying on in-car cameras rather than the radar and sensors employed by the current market leaders. It is betting that its approach will be cheaper and therefore ultimately more attractive to consumers.
However, questions have been asked about its safety. The NHTSA has highlighted that under the law it 'does not pre-approve new technologies or vehicle systems – rather, manufacturers certify that each vehicle meets NHTSA's rigorous safety standards, and the agency investigates incidents involving potential safety defects'.
Source: BBC News
Image Credit: Stock Image/Tesla
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
39 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
World shares trade near record highs, crude gains nudged by Middle East ceasefire
Global shares traded near record highs on Wednesday while crude oil prices gained and were on track to snap three straight sessions of declines as Middle East tensions eased, allowing markets to focus on U.S. inflation and prospects of interest rate cut. A ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding, further reducing the risks of disruptions to the global oil trade. At a NATO summit on Wednesday, President Donald Trump basked in the quick end to the 12-day conflict, saying he now expected a relationship with Iran that would preclude rebuilding its nuclear programme. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell resumes two days of Congressional testimony on Wednesday when he appears before the Senate Banking committee after scrutiny before a House panel on Tuesday. Benchmarks S&P 500 and Nasdaq were hovering near a fresh record high, helped by gains in technology and communication services shares. The Dow was trading lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.10% to 43,045.70, the SP 500 rose 0.17% to 6,102.26 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.44% to 19,999.51. European shares turned lower, dropping 0.5%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan finished up 0.8% overnight. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.05% to 903.46, after hitting a fresh record high earlier in the session. "It looks like we've got a bit of a tug of war as to everything from Middle East tensions to how that's going to impact inflation, and then you've got oil prices firming up a little bit," said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere Co in New Orleans. "It would be interesting if oil gets weaker and inflation stays at bay and then you wrap all that into what Powell has been saying. It feels like the market is being pretty resilient." Brent crude futures were up 0.94% at $67.80 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was up 1%, to $65.04. Prices had plunged more than 10% over the two sessions after rallying to five-month highs after the U.S. attacked Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend.
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Trump signals US may need to ease Iran oil sanctions to help rebuild country
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the US has not given up its maximum pressure on Iran - including restrictions on sales of Iranian oil - but signaled a potential easing in enforcement to help the country rebuild. "They're going to need money to put that country back into shape. We want to see that happen," Trump said at a news conference at the NATO Summit when asked if he was easing oil sanctions on Iran. Trump said a day earlier that China can continue to purchase Iranian oil after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, but the White House later clarified that his comments did not indicate a relaxation of US sanctions. Trump imposed waves of Iran-related sanctions on several of China's independent "teapot" refineries and port terminal operators for purchases of Iranian oil.
Arabian Post
2 hours ago
- Arabian Post
Musk Lays Claim to Redefine Human Knowledge with AI
Elon Musk has disclosed plans to overhaul xAI's conversational system Grok by essentially reconstructing its entire knowledge foundation. Frustrated with what he describes as 'garbage' and 'uncorrected data' in the model, Musk intends to launch Grok 3.5—potentially rebranded as Grok 4—with enhanced reasoning capabilities that will first re-write the entire corpus of human knowledge before retraining the model on that curated dataset. Musk wilted no words on X, characterising the endeavour as necessary to purge errors and integrate missing information—a process he says will counter the mainstream constraints he believes afflict existing AI systems. He also solicited 'divisive facts' from users—material that is politically incorrect yet supposedly factual—to enrich training, a move that elicited responses including Holocaust denial claims and conspiracy narratives. Experts have raised alarms about the proposal. Gary Marcus, professor emeritus at New York University, warned that the plan evokes a totalitarian impulse, likening it to Orwellian efforts to rewrite history for ideological alignment. Other ethicists emphasise that any attempt to curate a knowledge base to reflect particular values risks embedding hard‑to‑detect bias through subtle manipulation—what some describe as 'data poisoning'—even more insidiously than overt interventions. ADVERTISEMENT Grok's performance history reveals why Musk may feel compelled to act. Earlier this year, an 'unauthorised modification' led the model to spontaneously reference a conspiracy theory known as 'white genocide' in South Africa—often in contexts unrelated to the topic—raising significant concerns about its reliability. That glitch prompted xAI to launch an internal review and reinforce measures to increase the bot's transparency and stability. Institutional interest in Grok continues despite these setbacks. Sources told Reuters that entities such as the US Department of Homeland Security have been testing the system for data analysis and reporting, though officials clarified no formal endorsement has been issued. The proposed timeline for deploying Grok 3.5 or Grok 4 is expected by late 2025, with Musk pivoting xAI's effort away from public scrutiny and more towards curated, Musk‑aligned content. Critics caution that this shift could entrench a corporate agenda within the core of the AI, producing outputs that reflect ideological preferences rather than objective accuracy. This initiative occurs against a backdrop of broader AI regulation efforts. While governments wrestle with proposals ranging from state-level moratoria to risk-based frameworks, the question of how AI systems calibrate values remains contested. Musk's move intensifies that debate: will AI be a vessel for neutral knowledge, or a tool shaped—perhaps weaponised—by powerful individuals? The discussion now centers on transparency and accountability. Analysts argue that redefining a model's data foundation under the stewardship of a single corporate leader demands oversight mechanisms akin to those in utilities or public infrastructure. Ethical guidelines suggest dataset documentation, traceability, and multi‑stakeholder governance are essential to mitigate risks of ideological capture. Academic work on 'model disgorgement' offers technical approaches to remove or correct problematic knowledge, but experts emphasise that full transparency remains practically elusive at scale. Musk's declaration marks a turning point not just for Grok, but for the trajectory of AI governance. It anticipates a future in which elite designers may directly shape the content of civilisation's shared memory. As work begins on this ambitious rewrite, key questions emerge: who determines what qualifies as 'error'? Who adjudicates 'missing information'? And how will the public ensure that history remains a mosaic of perspectives, not a curated narrative?
