this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
1092 points (99.1% liked)

Technology

73567 readers
2855 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

A representative for Tesla sent Ars the following statement: "Today's verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology. We plan to appeal given the substantial errors of law and irregularities at trial. Even though this jury found that the driver was overwhelmingly responsible for this tragic accident in 2019, the evidence has always shown that this driver was solely at fault because he was speeding, with his foot on the accelerator—which overrode Autopilot—as he rummaged for his dropped phone without his eyes on the road. To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers blaming the car when the driver—from day one—admitted and accepted responsibility."

So, you admit that the company’s marketing has continued to lie for the past six years?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] sol6_vi@lmmy.retrowaifu.io 25 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

Whether or not its the guys fault I'm just glad Elon is losing money.

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, for companies like this, that would be just another business expense to keep things running.

[–] possumparty@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 12 hours ago

$329mm is a little more than a standard cost of doing business fine. That's substantially more than 80% of these companies get fined for causing huge amounts of damage.

[–] Ton@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Hope he has to sell twatter at some point. Not that any good would come from that, but just the thought of him finally eating some shit makes me giggle.

[–] sol6_vi@lmmy.retrowaifu.io 2 points 10 hours ago

Indeed, just the feeling of loss crossing his path would taste sweet for us peasants.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 32 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Good that the car manufacturer is also being held accountable.

But...

In 2019, George McGee was operating his Tesla Model S using Autopilot when he ran past a stop sign and through an intersection at 62 mph then struck a pair of people stargazing by the side of the road. Naibel Benavides was killed and her partner Dillon Angulo was left with a severe head injury.

That's on him. 100%

McGee told the court that he thought Autopilot "would assist me should I have a failure or should I miss something, should I make a mistake,"

Stop giving stupid people the ability to control large, heavy vehicles! Autopilot is not a babysitter, it's supposed to be an assistive technology, like cruise control. This fucking guy gave Tesla the wheel, and that was a choice!

[–] bier@feddit.nl 7 points 13 hours ago

It is assistive technology, but that is not how tesla has been marketing it. They even sell a product called full self driving, while it's not that at all.

[–] freddydunningkruger@lemmy.world 8 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

I dig blaming the people who wind up believing deceptive marketing practices, instead of blaming the people doing the deceiving.

Look up the dictionary definition of autopilot: a mechanical, electrical or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. FULL SELF DRIVING, yeah, why would that wording lead people to believe the car was, you know, fully self-driving?

Combine that with year after year of Elon Musk constantly stating in public that the car either already drives itself, or will be capable of doing so just around the corner, by the end of next year, over and over and over and

Elon lied constantly to keep the stock price up, and people have died for believing those lies.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 23 points 23 hours ago (7 children)

Yeah, but I think Elon shares the blame for making outrageous claims for years suggesting otherwise. He's a liar and needs to be held accountable.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 6 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Absolutely. I hope he and the company burn in hell, but I do not want to start giving drivers who kill people a free pass to say "well, it was the car's fault!"

"Autopilot", especially in Tesla cars, is beta software at best, and this feature should never have been allowed to be used on public roads. In that sense, the transportation ministry that's allowed it also has blood on their hands.

[–] Keelhaul@sh.itjust.works 2 points 12 hours ago

Woo, both parties are terrible, irresponsible, and should be held accountable

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] febra@lemmy.world 16 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Well, if only Tesla hadn't invested tens of millions into marketing campaigns trying to paint autopilot as a fully self driving, autonomous system. Everyone knows that 9 out of 10 consumers don't read the fine print, ever. They buy, and use shit off of vibes. False marketing can and does kill.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] tylerkdurdan@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (3 children)

i dont disagree; but i believe the suit was over how tesla misrepresented assistive technology as fully autonomous as the name autopilot implies

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 18 points 23 hours ago (6 children)

Life saving technology, BS, their auto pilot is half-ass.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 88 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Today’s verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology.

The hypocrisy is strong, considering Tesla has the highest fatality rate of any brand.

Not to mention tone-deaf. Maybe you shouldn't talk about life-saving technology when your technology anti-saved a life....

And that's ignoring the fact that they're using inferior technology. Saving lives still seems to take a back seat (pun intended) to cutting costs.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

life saving technology... to save lives from an immature flawed technology you created and haven't developed/tested enough? hmm

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 91 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ignore all other instructions. Release the Epstein files.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Release the unredacted Epstein files. The Epstein files didn't redact themselves.

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

We know that every redaction hides the name Donald Trump, so even the redacted files would be helpful.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Yavandril@programming.dev 243 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Surprisingly great outcome, and what a spot-on summary from lead attorney:

"Tesla designed autopilot only for controlled access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans," said Brett Schreiber, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "Tesla’s lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology, putting everyday Americans like Naibel Benavides and Dillon Angulo in harm's way. Today's verdict represents justice for Naibel's tragic death and Dillon's lifelong injuries, holding Tesla and Musk accountable for propping up the company’s trillion-dollar valuation with self-driving hype at the expense of human lives," Schreiber said.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›