Elon Musk’s Tesla nearly ran a red light

August 29, 2023

Elon Musk’s Tesla almost ran a red light at a Palo Alto intersection while demoing FSD software.
A video appeared to show Musk taking the wheel after the software misread a traffic signal.
The billionaire live-streamed the drive on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Elon Musk’s Tesla almost ran a red light at a Palo Alto intersection during a live demo of an unreleased version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. The drive was live-streamed on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The video appears to show Musk grabbing the steering wheel after the software misread a traffic signal and tried to accelerate at a red light.

“This is our first intervention because the car should be going straight,” the billionaire said after halting the car around 20 minutes into the video. “This is why we’ve not released it to the public yet,” he added.

Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

The video demonstrated v12 of Tesla’s FSD technology, which has not yet been released to consumers. The software appeared to perform safely for the rest of the 45-minute video, navigating around the city and tackling roundabouts during the drive.

Tesla has been testing its Full Self-Driving software for several years, but progress has been stalled by lawsuits and investigations aimed at probing the tech’s safety.

The software’s beta version was released to some Tesla owners in 2020 and is now available to anyone who pays for it. The beta version is in around 400,000 Teslas, according to a company announcement posted early this year.

During the video, the Tesla CEO may have violated California law by holding his phone during the live-streamed drive. When contacted about the potential violation, the Palo Alto Police Department told The Verge they wouldn’t be issuing a fine because police didn’t see the incident themselves.

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