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DOJ Investigating Tesla for Securities, Wire Fraud Over Full Self-Driving Claims
The Department of Justice is investigating Tesla for securities and wire fraud over the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) claims.
The DOJ first opened an investigation into Tesla in October 2022, but it was unclear what the agency was investigating. According to Reuters, the first reports have surfaced, indicating the DOJ is looking primarily at whether the company deceived investors and customers regarding FSD’s abilities.
Wire fraud comes into play if a company deceives customers across state lines, while securities fraud involves deceiving investors.
The DOJ is evidently reviewing data involving Tesla crashes when using FSD, as well as how the company marketed the technology. Tesla officials, especially CEO Elon Musk, have a history of making grandiose claims about FSD.
As Reuters points out, Musk told reports as early as 2016 that Autopilot was “probably better” than a human driver, and said in October 2022 that an upcoming FSD upgrade would let individuals travel “to your work, your friend’s house, to the grocery store without you touching the wheel.”
Tesla has already run into legal issues with its claims, with California ruling the company cannot use the Full Self-Driving name within the state, after deeming the use of the term false advertising.
The legislation specifically prohibited using terminology to imply fully autonomous capabilities when the technology only provides partial automation.
A manufacturer or dealer shall not name any partial driving automation feature, or describe any partial driving automation feature in marketing materials, using language that implies or would otherwise lead a reasonable person to believe, that the feature allows the vehicle to function as an autonomous vehicle, as defined in Section 38750, or otherwise has functionality not actually included in the feature.
As Reuters highlights, it’s too early in the investigation to have any idea what the outcome will be. It could be anything from criminal charges, to civil action, to nothing at all.
DOJ Investigating Tesla for Securities, Wire Fraud Over Full Self-Driving Claims
Matt Milano
from WebProNews https://ift.tt/TWLMxjn
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