Tesla’s head is once again in trouble because of the Autopilot features of its vehicles

Citing “three people close to the issue”, Reuters reported that Tesla is facing a criminal investigation launched by the US Department of Justice for incidents involving its “autopilot” capabilities. The investigation was launched last year after more than a dozen crashes, some of which resulted in death, involving active use of Tesla’s Autopilot system, sources say.

Tesla, and in particular CEO Elon Musk, has always been manly in their arguments about Autopilot’s capabilities. The beta version, which the company calls “Full Self-Driving,” or FSD, but which does not fit that description by its own admission, was released in October 2020 and is now part of the larger global population of Tesla owners, according to the latest publicly available numbers. It has more than 100,000 members.

The automaker warns users of “Autopilot”, “Advanced Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” to keep their hands on the wheel at all times, be alert and remain in control of their vehicle. However, during his earnings announcement in January, Musk suggested that his systems might be “more secure than a human.” Stating that the FSD will work at a security level far above the average driver, Musk repeated this argument over and over again.