Latest news with #FullSelfDriving
The Drive
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
Elon Musk's Tesla Cries 'Competitive Harm' Over Self-Driving Crash Data Disclosure
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Lawyers for Tesla have filed a motion asking a judge to throw out a public information request that would require the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to release data about crashes that occurred while its vehicles were under the control of automated or semi-automated driving systems. Tesla misleadingly calls its systems Autopilot and Full-Self Driving. Tesla asked the judge to dismiss the motion on the grounds that competitors could use the data to 'assess the efficacy' of Tesla's hardware and software, which could lead to 'financial and economic harm.' The Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) suit was brought by The Washington Post last year in an effort to obtain additional data about vehicles that were under the control of driver assistance systems (either Autopilot or Full Self-Driving) when a crash occurred, Reuters reports. With Tesla lobbying the Trump administration to end existing reporting requirements for self-driving vehicle accidents, it's a case with a lot of eyes on it. Tesla's motion argues that competitors would normally have to pay a lot of money to learn what Tesla has over the course of developing its driver aids, and that by releasing crash data, NHTSA would effectively be handing a watered-down version of that (valuable) accumulated data to competitors, allowing them to essentially 'read ahead' in their own development process by learning from Tesla's progress (or perhaps more accurately in this case, its public mistakes). 'These are precisely the types of competitive harms long recognized by courts in this circuit,' Tesla argued in the motion. But it really comes down to this: if NHTSA releases Tesla's crash data to the public, it may (whether directly or indirectly) deter people from buying its cars, and it would be unfair to compel the company to reveal them. 'Tesla has explained (and as NHTSA has concurred), competitors may review the disclosed information and draw speculative conclusions about the quality of Tesla's ADAS technology with respect to a certain version or feature—which may very well be flawed given that the disclosed information may reflect only preliminary investigations—and use that to improve or tout their technology at the expense of Tesla's,' the motion says. 'Thus, even under Plaintiff's articulation, Tesla and NHTSA have established a reasonable likelihood of disparagement harm resulting from the disclosure of the withheld information,' it concludes. It's a neatly packaged argument that has the benefit of support from the very agency the Post is suing, but it compels us to ask a far more fundamental question: Is NHTSA's duty to protect the private interests of a multi-billion-dollar corporation, or the public safety of America's roadways? Got a tip? You can send it here: tips@
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg Tech: Tesla's FSD Factored in Fatal Crash, GlobalFoundries Boosts US Production
Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow discuss footage and details from late 2023 when a Tesla using what the company calls Full Self-Driving (FSD) was in a fatal crash. Plus, GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen talks about his company's plans to spend $16 billion to boost chip production in New York and Vermont. And HPE CEO Antonio Neri explains why the company has reduced how much it expects tariffs to impact earnings.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
A Fatal Tesla Crash Shows the Limits of Full Self-Driving
Industries | The Big Take As Elon Musk touts robotaxis in Austin, federal regulators are investigating whether the system is dangerous even with a human behind the wheel. By and Craig Trudell The setting sun was blinding drivers on the Arizona interstate between Flagstaff and Phoenix in November 2023. Johna Story was traveling with her daughter and a co-worker in a black Toyota 4Runner around a curve that turned directly into the glaring sunlight. They pulled over to help direct traffic around two cars that had crashed. Back before that curve, Karl Stock was behind the wheel of a red Tesla Model Y. He had engaged what the carmaker calls Full Self-Driving, or FSD — a partial-automation system Elon Musk had acknowledged 18 months earlier was a high-stakes work in progress. In a few harrowing seconds, the system's shortcomings were laid bare by a tragedy. The Tesla hit Story, a 71-year-old grandmother, at highway speed. She was pronounced dead at the scene. ► Footage from a front camera on the Tesla shows the bright sun setting. Sun glare becomes more pronounced around the curve. ► A car in the right lane begins to brake. The Tesla appears to maintain its speed. ► More vehicles with hazard lights are parked on the right shoulder. The Tesla still hasn't braked as they come into view. ► A person waves to get the Tesla driver's attention. The Tesla veers left. ► The Tesla sideswipes the 4Runner and hits Johna Story head-on. Story's death — one of 40,901 US traffic fatalities that year — was the first known pedestrian fatality linked to Tesla's driving system, prompting an ongoing federal investigation into whether Full Self-Driving poses an unacceptable safety risk. Bloomberg News is publishing photos and partial footage of the crash, which was recorded by the Model Y and downloaded by police, for the first time after obtaining the images and video through a public-records request. As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigates whether Tesla's human-supervised driving system is potentially defective, the company is proceeding with plans to deploy a small number of vehicles without anyone behind the wheel. Tesla has already started putting driverless Model Ys on public roads for testing in Austin ahead of plans to launch a driverless taxi service on June 12, Bloomberg reported last week. What regulators still want to know is whether Tesla's cars will be capable of confronting conditions similar to those in the 2023 crash. A spokesperson for NHTSA said the agency will take any actions necessary to protect road safety. After spending years investigating Autopilot — a different suite of Tesla driver-assistance features — the regulator found that the carmaker hadn't done enough to prevent drivers from misusing the features. Tesla then recalled 2 million cars. Representatives for Tesla, including Musk, the company's chief executive officer, didn't respond to a list of questions from Bloomberg. Bryant Walker Smith, a lawyer and engineer who advises cities, states and countries on emerging transportation technologies, warned that Tesla's push to deploy driverless cars may be premature. 'They are claiming they will be imminently able to do something — true automated driving — that all evidence suggests they still can't do safely,' he said. Johna Story woke up early the morning of Nov. 27, 2023, to take her grandchildren to school. She and her daughter, Sarah, then headed to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where they worked transporting vehicles for a rental-car company. That evening, Johna, Sarah and a co-worker, Brian Howard, were driving the Toyota 4Runner from Flagstaff to Phoenix when they came upon an accident shortly after the curve on Interstate 17. Howard exited the SUV and walked back behind the initial crash scene to alert oncoming traffic. Johna stepped out of the front passenger-side door and put on an orange reflective safety vest. The Tesla driver, Karl Stock, was traveling at 65 miles per hour in his Model Y, according to the crash report police compiled. As multiple cars ahead began to brake or came to complete stops near the scene of the first crash, the footage appears to show the Tesla maintained its speed. The Model Y swerved to the left just as it sped past Howard, who stood on the shoulder of the interstate, whipping what appears to be a safety vest in the air. The Tesla jerked back to the right and hit Johna Story head-on with the front bumper, hood and windshield, sending her body tumbling through the air. 'Sorry everything happened so fast,' Stock wrote in a witness statement for police. 'There were cars stopped in front of me and by the time I saw them I had no place to go to avoid them.' The crash report doesn't mention Full Self-Driving or whether Stock tried to override Tesla's system. Stock wasn't cited, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety said. The victim's family has sued Stock, who didn't respond to requests for comment, and Tesla. The fatal collision — and the involvement of Full Self-Driving — came to light because of a standing general order from NHTSA that requires Tesla and other carmakers to report crashes involving cars with driver-assistance systems engaged. Tesla reported the crash seven months after the incident, according to data collected by NHTSA. Read the full Arizona crash report. Two months after Story's death in Arizona, a Tesla Model 3 with Full Self-Driving engaged crashed in Nipton, California, in January 2024. Another Model 3 crashed two months later in Red Mills, Virginia, followed by another two months later in Collinsville, Ohio. In all four incidents, the collisions occurred in conditions that reduced roadway visibility, such as sun glare, fog or airborne dust. The crashes spurred the defect investigation NHTSA opened in October — 18 days before the US election. Musk was campaigning in Pennsylvania that week for Donald Trump and posting regularly about politics on X, his social media network formerly known as Twitter. A day after NHTSA went public with its investigation, Musk wrote on X that Washington had become 'an ever-increasing ocean of brake pedals stopping progress.' The following week, Musk took time out of Tesla's quarterly earnings call to advocate for a federal approval process for the deployment of autonomous vehicles to supersede state-by-state regulations. 'If there's a Department of Government Efficiency, I'll try to help make that happen,' he said. Musk ended up pumping roughly $290 million into the election in support of Trump and the Republicans and became the public face of DOGE, the organization that razed through agencies across Washington. Trump appointed Sean Duffy to run the Department of Transportation, which oversees NHTSA. Duffy, a former contestant on the MTV reality television series Road Rules, has repeatedly said a federal autonomous vehicle framework is a top priority — both for him and Trump. On May 20, Duffy visited Musk at Tesla's factory and headquarters in Austin. 'We're here because we're thrilled about the future of autonomous vehicles,' the Transportation Secretary said, standing between Musk and one of Tesla's humanoid robot prototypes. While safety is key, Duffy said in a video posted on X, he also emphasized the need to ' let innovators innovate.' Last month, NHTSA sent Tesla a letter asking about basic elements of the company's robotaxi plans only weeks before its slated launch. Tanya Topka, director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, asked Tesla to state the name of the driving systems the company planned to use in driverless taxis, and to detail the number of vehicles it expected to deploy and in what locations. She asked Tesla to describe each of the sensors the company planned to use for its cars to perceive their surroundings, and how the company intended to ensure safety in conditions where roadway visibility is reduced, including sun glare. Crashes like the one that claimed Story's life expose the limits of the hardware Tesla relies on for its driving systems, according to Smith, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina. The company uses a third of the number of sensors that Alphabet Inc. 's Waymo vehicles have. Whereas Waymo employs an array of different kinds of sensors — cameras, radar and lidar — Tesla utilizes only one. Teslas Use Fewer Sensors to See Their Surroundings Waymo relies on radar and lidar in addition to cameras 'There is a reason why Superman could shoot lasers from his eyes, but also uses his eyes for seeing. You want redundancy,' Smith said. 'It is shocking to many people that Tesla has such confidence in a single type of sensor.' That single type of sensor Tesla relies on is cameras. The company places an array of them in each vehicle it sells to capture road signs, traffic lights, lane markings and surrounding cars. Other automakers and autonomous-driving technology companies also use radar and lidar, which emit energy — in lidar's case, laser pulses traveling at the speed of light — to detect the distance of surrounding objects. As active sensors that generate their own signals, they're not affected by external lighting conditions and function better than cameras in direct sunlight. One advantage cameras have over both radar and lidar is cost. Analysts at BloombergNEF estimated in a report late last year that the sensor suite on a Tesla Model 3 costs just $400. The researcher said that the 24 sensors on the Jaguar I-Pace SUVs that Waymo had deployed in states including Arizona cost 23 times more: roughly $9,300 per vehicle. 'The issue with Waymo's cars is they cost way more money,' Musk said during Tesla's most recent earnings call in April. Colin Langan, an equity analyst at Wells Fargo, asked Musk later during the call about how Tesla expected to get around the issue of sun glare overwhelming its cameras. 'Actually, it does not blind the camera,' Musk replied, citing a 'breakthrough that we made some time ago.' Colin Langan: You're still sticking with the vision-only approach. A lot of autonomous people still have a lot of concerns about sun glare, fog, and dust. Any color on how you anticipate on getting around those issues, because my understanding, it kind of blinds the camera when you get glare and stuff. Elon Musk: Actually, it does not blind the camera. We use an approach, which is direct photon count. So, when you see a processed image, so the image that goes from the sort of photon counter -- the silicon photon counter, that then goes through a digital signal processor or image signal processor, that's normally what happens. And then the image that you see looks all washed out, because if you point the camera at the sun, the post-processing of the photon counting washes things out. It actually adds noise. So, part of the breakthrough that we made some time ago was to go with direct photon counting and bypass the image signal processor. And then you can drive pretty much straight at the sun, and you can also see in what appears to be the blackest of nights. And then glare and fog, we can see as well as people can, probably better, but I'd say probably slightly better than people, well, than the average person anyway, and yeah. Langan: So, the camera is able to see when there's direct glare on it; a little surprised by that. Musk: Yeah, yeah. Musk's comments perplexed Sam Abuelsamid, a former vehicle-development engineer who's now vice president of Telemetry, a Detroit-based communications firm. 'At some point, you have to process the signal,' Abuelsamid said. 'There has to be an image processor somewhere. Tesla's online owner's manual for the Model Y cautions that the vehicle's front-facing cameras 'may not detect objects or barriers that can potentially cause damage or injury,' and that 'several external factors' can reduce their performance. The company says the cameras aren't intended to replace drivers' visual checks or substitute careful driving. In other forums, Musk and Tesla have struck a much different tone about the capabilities of its cars. 'Sip tea in a Tesla while it drives you,' the CEO wrote in a May 9 post, sharing a video of an X user filming herself holding a cup on a saucer while in slow-moving traffic. In another post, the company claimed: 'With FSD Supervised, your steering wheel may start collecting dust.' The recent posts follow previous warnings from NHTSA about Tesla's social media activity. Shortly after opening its defect investigation, the agency released an email it had sent months earlier, in May 2024, taking issue with Tesla reposting X users who had disengaged from the task of driving while using the company's partial-automation systems. 'While Tesla has the discretion to communicate with the public as it sees fit, we note that these posts show lost opportunities to temper enthusiasm for a new product with cautions on its proper use with the points that Tesla has made to us,' Gregory Magno, a division chief within NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, wrote to Tesla. A NHTSA spokesperson declined to comment specifically on whether the agency had concerns about Tesla's more recent posts, but noted that the company's vehicles aren't self-driving and require a fully attentive driver to be engaged at all times. Musk has said that 'solving' self-driving is pivotal to Tesla's future. 'That's really the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money and being worth basically zero,' he said in May 2022. The CEO has put off plans for a cheaper mass-market vehicle that many Tesla investors — and some insiders — pushed for and view as crucial to the carmaker's near-term prospects. 'Elon Musk has bet the entire company on this philosophy that current Tesla vehicles are capable of being a robotaxi,' said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington-based advocacy group. 'We know the FSD system is camera-based, and sun glare can inhibit camera-based operations.' 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Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Tesla Robotaxi Nearing Launch: Buy, Hold or Sell the Stock Now?
Robotaxis — once a sci-fi fantasy — are now becoming a reality. And Tesla TSLA, the world's most valuable EV company, is finally stepping into the arena. The company is preparing to launch its first robotaxi service in Austin, TX, with a tentative start date of June 12. Using its in-house app, Tesla will allow users to hail a driverless ride, powered entirely by its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently shared that the company has already begun testing Model Y vehicles — with no one in the driver's seat — on public roads in Austin — and with no reported incidents. He also claimed these vehicles will even deliver themselves to customers starting next month. While all this sounds exciting, it's worth pausing to take a closer look. Tesla has not shared enough information about how this robotaxi service will actually work. For instance, how many vehicles will be deployed? Will they operate in all weather conditions? And how safe are these driverless Tesla cars really? Given Tesla's history of bold promises and delayed rollouts, investors would be wise to keep expectations in check. TSLA stock started off 2025 on a rough note, facing a lot of challenges. But over the past month, shares have jumped 23%— likely fueled by optimism surrounding the upcoming robotaxi launch. The hype may already be priced into the stock. Whether Tesla can deliver on the promise remains to be seen. So, should you buy the stock ahead of this major milestone? Let's take a deeper look. Can Tesla Catch Up With Waymo's Head Start? As Tesla's robotaxi service prepares to hit the road, competitors like Alphabet GOOGL already hold an early lead in the driverless race. Alphabet's Waymo currently dominates the U.S. robotaxi market. Waymo is already running commercial services in four U.S. cities—delivering over 250,000 paid rides per week. In fact, Alphabet has committed to investing $5 billion into Waymo over the coming years. Waymo has also taken a much more cautious and transparent approach compared to Tesla. It has spent months collecting street-level data, testing its vehicles in controlled environments, and publishing detailed safety studies. Tesla, in contrast, has largely relied on the bold statements of CEO Elon Musk, with little public data or independent safety validation to back them up. Even U.S. regulators are looking for more clarity. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has sent Tesla several questions about the upcoming launch. This comes as Tesla's earlier driver-assist features—Autopilot and FSD—have been linked to hundreds of incidents and over 50 reported deaths. One area where Tesla could have a competitive edge is cost. Waymo's vehicles are built with high-end sensors like LiDAR and radar, bringing the per-vehicle cost to around $180,000. Tesla's robotaxis, on the other hand, rely solely on cameras and computer vision, cutting estimated production costs to about $50,000. If Tesla's tech proves to be safe and reliable, that pricing advantage could make it easier to scale the service. Still, despite the buzz, many critical questions remain unanswered as Tesla approaches its robotaxi debut. Besides, the company is already facing growing challenges in its core EV business. Tesla Sales Slip, Brand Takes a Hit Tesla is facing declining deliveries across key markets as competition intensifies, from both legacy automakers and aggressive new EV entrants. CEO Elon Musk's political involvement has also drawn criticism, distracting attention from core business operations. Although Musk has since stepped back from his role in the government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), much of the reputational damage may already be done. As Tesla's sales lose momentum, China's EV giant BYD Co Ltd. BYDDY is gaining ground fast. In the first quarter of 2025, BYD delivered 416,388 battery electric vehicles, beating Tesla's 336,681 units for the second consecutive quarter, cementing its position as the world's top EV maker. With rapid expansion and cutting-edge technology, BYD is posing a serious challenge to Tesla's long-held dominance, while Tesla's brand image appears to be losing some of its shine. To boost demand, Tesla has been offering deep discounts. However, this strategy is weighing on its automotive profit margins. Musk already walked back the company's 2025 vehicle growth target from 20–30% to more modest expectations on the fourth-quarter earnings call. Now, amid global tariff uncertainty and persistent challenges in China, Tesla hasn't even reaffirmed those lowered targets. The company says it plans to revisit its 2025 delivery guidance in its next quarterly update. Discouragingly, estimates for Tesla have also been southbound. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research TSLA is Quite Pricey Now From a valuation perspective, Tesla appears overvalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 10.69, higher than its industry's 2.77. This premium is difficult to justify based on fundamentals alone. The market is pricing in major breakthroughs in high-risk, unproven areas like autonomous driving and humanoid robotics—bets that are far from guaranteed to pay off. Tesla is a Risky Investment Now Tesla's upcoming robotaxi launch may sound like a game-changer, but the details remain murky, and the risks are real. While the company's cost-driven approach could offer scale advantages down the road, it still lags competitors like Waymo in real-world testing, regulatory transparency, and public trust. Meanwhile, Tesla's core EV business is showing signs of strain, with falling sales, shrinking margins, and intensifying global competition. Add in a premium valuation that hinges on the success of unproven technologies like FSD and robotics, and the case for Tesla looks even weaker. Despite a recent upside in the stock, much of the robotaxi optimism appears already priced in. Until Tesla shows tangible progress on both the tech and execution fronts, it's too early to invest. For now, this looks more like a time to lock in gains—not double down. Tesla currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). You can see Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock It's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom. With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028. See This Stock Now for Free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Byd Co., Ltd. (BYDDY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Auto Blog
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Tesla's Robotaxis Won't Be Driving Alone — Humans Will Be Watching
Tesla plans to launch its first autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin next month. But behind the scenes, human operators will be keeping the cars in check. Tesla's self-driving dream is getting human backup Tesla's long-promised fleet of self-driving robotaxis is finally arriving — sort of. CEO Elon Musk says the company will launch a small pilot of driverless Model Ys in Austin, Texas, by the end of June. But rather than letting the cars roam entirely on their own, Tesla is quietly hiring human teleoperators to monitor and, if necessary, take control of the vehicles remotely. 0:01 / 0:09 2025 Nissan Z undercuts Toyota Supra by a surprising amount Watch More This hybrid approach isn't unusual in the autonomous vehicle industry, but it stands in contrast to Tesla's public messaging around 'Full Self-Driving.' While Musk has long dismissed the need for external sensors like LIDAR and radar, calling Tesla's camera-based AI system sufficient, the company is still relying on human assistance to address real-world challenges. Remote operators will ensure safety, for now Investment analysts at Morgan Stanley recently confirmed that Tesla is relying heavily on human oversight, citing visits to the company's Palo Alto office. Several job postings back this up, including roles for 'Teleoperation' engineers who will help create tools that allow humans to see what the car sees and intervene when things go wrong. Tesla will use its Model Y as a launching platform for its robotaxi tech. — Source: Tesla These workers won't just be steering stuck robotaxis from afar. Tesla says they'll also help build the user interface that connects remote humans with onboard AI — essentially shaping the collaboration between man and machine. Still no safety data, and regulators are watching Tesla hasn't yet released safety data for its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software, which is still under federal scrutiny. Both Autopilot and FSD have been linked to hundreds of crashes, including some fatal ones. The company maintains that its approach will prove safer than human drivers in the long run, but for now, it's taking extra precautions. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. The Austin rollout will start with just 10 vehicles and be limited to an invite-only group of users. Musk says Tesla plans to scale up to 1,000 robotaxis within a few months, assuming the pilot runs smoothly. Tesla Model Y, equipped with FSD system. Three front-facing cameras under the windshield near rear view mirror. — Source: Mark Leong/TheHuman-in-the-loop is becoming the norm Waymo/Hyundai IONIQ 5 — Source: Waymo Tesla's teleoperation setup now looks surprisingly similar to what Waymo, a longtime autonomous driving competitor, already uses. Waymo employs 'fleet response agents' who step in when its cars get confused. Tesla's version may go even further, using virtual reality rigs and custom software to give operators a real-time view and control of the car's surroundings. Final thoughts Tesla's upcoming robotaxi rollout may mark a major milestone for the company, but it also underscores how far we still are from truly autonomous driving. Despite bold claims and years of promises, even Tesla is leaning on human intervention to make its system viable in the real world. That's not necessarily a setback; it's a pragmatic step. As the line between autonomy and remote assistance blurs, Tesla joins a growing list of companies accepting that 'self-driving' often still requires a safety net. Whether this hybrid model is a short-term bridge or a long-term necessity remains to be seen. For now, the road to autonomy still has a human hand on the wheel, just not inside the car.
