“Tesla Autopilot Accident: Family Sues Elon Musk Over Alleged Malfunctioning System”

The case revolves around a man who died in an accident in 2018 with his Tesla with the partially self-driving function Autopilot on. The car drove at full speed into a concrete barrier between the two halves of the road. His family says the Autopilot system was malfunctioning. In an earlier case, Tesla was acquitted because the man did not have his hands on the wheel and was playing a game on his phone. His family now argues that statements made by Musk indicated that this was possible.

But Tesla lawyers thought it was nonsense to interrogate the CEO under oath. Because there is so much footage of him, deepfakes could also have been made, they argued. Therefore, it would not be clear whether the statements were really made by Musk and the billionaire would therefore not have to testify.

Judge Evette Pennypacker was not impressed. In other words, Mr. Musk and other people in his position can say what they want publicly and then hide behind the possibility that there are faked videos to avoid taking responsibility for things they actually said and did. , she summarized.