Musk’s role in controversial Tesla Autopilot video exposed

Tesla boss Elon Musk reportedly oversaw the production of a video in 2016 that exaggerated the abilities of the American EV brand’s Autopilot system, according to a report published today by news agency Bloomberg.

The Bloomberg report cites emails in which Musk told the development team of the autonomous driving system that it was “fine to hardcode” some of the Autopilot demonstration drive material “since we [Tesla] will backfill with production code later in an OTA update”.

According to Bloomberg, this suggests that sections of the demonstration route were pre-programmed into the Tesla Model X test vehicle, not using the production-spec algorithms or software.

“I will be telling the world that this is what the car *will* be able to do, not that it can do this upon receipt,” Musk is quoted as saying in the same email.

Six years on and we’re yet to see all the functions and capabilities depicted in the video, with Tesla still instructing owners to always keep their hands on the wheel and be ready to take control at a moment’s notice.

Bloomberg says the email chain goes on to reveal Musk’s insistence that the promotional video “feels like” it was shot in “one continuous take”, with several versions being submitted, evaluated and sent back for editing.

The article suggests Musk also penned the opening passage, which read: “The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”

There’s no mention in the video when the depicted level of autonomy would be available in Tesla cars.

The insights are relevant as the functionality of Tesla’s Autopilot system comes under investigation by authorities in the US after multiple incidents reportedly related to the assisted driving technology.

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