Untruths

The robotaxi companies have been more than just a bit misleading to both the public and the regulators. Untruths or downright lies? You decide…

electrek – Tesla hypes ‘unsupervised full self-driving’ launch in June: here’s what it will actually launch

electrek reports on how the purported Tesla launch of ‘unsupervised full self-driving’ in June is simply yet another empty promise. Tesla doesn't have the technology. And they are hiring teleoperation folks to get their cars out of the inevitable problematic situations they will encounter.

Read Moreelectrek – Tesla hypes ‘unsupervised full self-driving’ launch in June: here’s what it will actually launch

electrek – Tesla drops ‘FSD’ from name of its driver-assist tech in China

electrek reports on how Tesla has had to remove "Full Self Driving" and "Autopilot" terms from the products it sells in China, given that they are patently not true. Also noteworthy that Chinese human drivers are receiving tickets for bad driving when the use the Tesla driver assist features.

Read Moreelectrek – Tesla drops ‘FSD’ from name of its driver-assist tech in China

TechCrunch – What Tesla can and can’t do in California with its new passenger transportation permit

A great deal of ink has been spilled (pixels have been pushed??) on how Tesla received first of the permits needed to run a robotaxi service. Fanboys got excited! But this permit has absolutely nothing to do with robotaxis. It simply is a permit to run an app-based Uber like system with human drivers. This is of course not something that Tesla actually plans on doing. Therefore it is a complete nothing of an announcement. Thankfully TechCrunch clarifies the situation.

Read MoreTechCrunch – What Tesla can and can’t do in California with its new passenger transportation permit

electrek – Tesla Autopilot drives into Wile E Coyote fake road wall in camera vs lidar test

electrek reports on a truly wild YouTube video by Mark Roper showing that without LiDAR that the Tesla's completely miss detecting objects in the middle of the road. And please, a moment of silence for the multiple mannequins that were completely demolished by the Tesla.

Read Moreelectrek – Tesla Autopilot drives into Wile E Coyote fake road wall in camera vs lidar test

Washington Post – Elon Musk’s Tesla moves to launch free self-driving taxi service in California

Washington Post misleadingly reports that Tesla has taken a significant step towards providing robotaxi service in California. But actually the permit from the CPUC only allows for passengers to use Teslas as a human-driven taxi service. Tesla hasn't even applied for a permit from the DMV to operate driver-less vehicles in California.

Read MoreWashington Post – Elon Musk’s Tesla moves to launch free self-driving taxi service in California

electrek – Elon Musk misrepresents data that shows Tesla is still years away from unsupervised self-driving

electrek reports on how it isn't just his video game playing skills that Elon lies about. Elon has continued to mislead investors and the public on how well FSD is working. Tesla makes claims only with respect to highway driving, and won't release the data needed to fully understand the issue. Meanwhile, crowd-sourced data shows that FSD improvements have been quite small, sometimes with big regressions, and that Tesla is nowhere near being able to provide a truly autonomous driving system needed for robotaxis.

Read Moreelectrek – Elon Musk misrepresents data that shows Tesla is still years away from unsupervised self-driving

SF Gate – ‘Fundamentally wrong’: Self-driving Tesla steers Calif. tech founder onto train tracks

SF Gate reports how Jesse Lyu was using Tesla FSD when it drove him right onto some streetcar tracks with a streetcar not to far behind him. And yes, Jesse Lyu ironically is the CEO of Rabbit, the creators of the Rabbit R1, one of the worst reviewed AI gadgets of 2024. Perhaps AI really isn't all there yet, you think?

Read MoreSF Gate – ‘Fundamentally wrong’: Self-driving Tesla steers Calif. tech founder onto train tracks

WSJ – Tesla’s Car Business Isn’t Really in the Driver’s Seat

WSJ reports on how Tesla stock capitalization has been completely disassociated from the business of selling cars. Instead, it is predicated on the myth that they are an AI, robotaxi, and robotics company given that their car sales are actually in decline. Ironically, after this article was published Tesla stock rose over 6%.

Read MoreWSJ – Tesla’s Car Business Isn’t Really in the Driver’s Seat