Tesla Confirms The US Justice Department Is Looking Into Autopilot And FSD

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Tesla's full self-driving and autopilot features, according to documents filed by the electric car manufacturer. The company's full self driving feature hit the news recently when it emerged that a driver who was allegedly using the feature caused a multi-car pile up on San Francisco's Bay Bridge. The accident involved eight vehicles and left nine people, including a young child, injured. The accident took place on the same day that CEO Elon Musk announced the full self-driving beta was available for people who both bought the option and opt to download it.

As of October 2022, there had been over 270 crashes that allegedly involved a Tesla driver who was using the vehicle's autopilot feature. Five of those accidents resulted in at least one fatality (via NHTSA). "Autopilot" refers to the suite of autonomous features Teslas can come with. This includes navigation tools, which suggest the best route to a destination and can recommend things like lane changes, to "auto steering," to a feature called "smart summon" which allows the car to drive itself to you in certain garages. While driver aids are helpful, the person in charge of the vehicle has to legally be in the driver's seat and ready to intervene if something is about to go wrong.

On page 86 of the filing lodged with the SEC, the electric car maker states: "the company has received requests from the Department of Justice (DOJ) for documents related to Tesla's Autopilot and FSD features. To our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred." This claim could be related to a rumor from last year, in which several sources claimed the DOJ was investigating a potential breach of federal law.

At the time, it was theorized that the case could relate to some of the claims Musk has made about the car's self-driving features. This includes a suggestion that the feature is better than a human driver, and that it could take you from location to location without you ever touching the wheel. Musk also released a staged video, which is embedded above, to show the feature's potential capabilities back in 2016. 

There is a chance these claims could constitute some degree of fraud, or put Tesla drivers in danger by overstating what the car was capable of doing on its own. Although this is the first real indication some form of investigation has happened or is happening, the DOJ has still not commented on the matter. But if an investigation is active and does go anywhere, more details will eventually emerge.